CardioExchange Archive

October 21st, 2010

INR Home Testing Found Comparable to Point-of-Care Testing

Larry Husten, PHD

Weekly INR self-testing at home is comparable to monthly point-of-care testing, according to results of THINRS (the Home International Normalized Ratio Study), published in the New England Journal of Medicine. David Matchar and colleagues found no difference in the incidence of stroke, major bleeding episode, or death in the 2922 patients taking warfarin who were randomized to […]

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October 21st, 2010

Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off!

Larry Husten, PHD

Some say “dabby-gat-ran.” I say “duh-big-a-tran.” Boehringer Ingelheim wants you to say “pra-dax-a.” One of the most important advances in cardiovascular therapeutics in years is dampened by the inability of cardiologists and other highly educated professionals to agree on how to pronounce “dabigatran.” What do you say? Update: Here’s an official response from a Boehringer […]

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October 20th, 2010

FDA Approves Dabigatran for Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA announced on Tuesday that it has approved Pradaxa (dabigatran, Boehringer Ingelheim) for the prevention of stroke and blood clots in patients with atrial fibrillation. The drug will be available in 75-mg and 150-mg capsules. “Unlike warfarin, which requires patients to undergo periodic monitoring with blood tests, such monitoring is not necessary for Pradaxa,” […]

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October 19th, 2010

Study Finds Link Between Invasive Dental Treatments and CV Events

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study adds to the evidence linking periodontal disease to cardiovascular events, suggesting a common basis in acute inflammation. In a report in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Caroline Minassian and colleagues analyzed a Medicaid database of 1175 patients discharged with ischemic stroke or MI who had received invasive dental treatment. They observed a […]

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October 19th, 2010

FDA Advisors Recommend No Changes for Aranesp

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA Cardiovascular and Renal Advisory Committee has endorsed the status quo for Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa). The committee met on Monday to discuss the Trial to Reduce Cardiovascular Events with Aranesp Therapy (TREAT) and voted 15-1-1 against withdrawal of the indication for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients not on dialysis. The committee also voted against adoption […]

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October 18th, 2010

New CPR Guidelines Replace A-B-C with C-A-B

Larry Husten, PHD

Chest compressions gain pride of place (and trump alphabetical order) in the newly published and  much-anticipated updated guidelines for CPR from the AHA. The new guidelines replace the traditional A-B-C (Airway-Breathing-Compressions) with C-A-B (Compressions-Airway-Breathing), recommending that “chest compressions be the first step for lay and professional rescuers to revive victims of sudden cardiac arrest.” The […]

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October 14th, 2010

Meta-Analysis Lends More Support to Compression-Only CPR

Larry Husten, PHD

There’s new evidence supporting the movement away from traditional bystander CPR in favor of chest-compression-only CPR. In a paper appearing online in the Lancet, Michael Hüpfl, Harald F Selig, and Peter Nagele report the results of two separate meta-analyses. In the first meta-analysis, the investigators combined data from 3 randomized trials comparing compression-only CPR to […]

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October 13th, 2010

Sequencing Study Identifies Gene Mutations Tied to Hypolipidemia

Larry Husten, PHD

By sequencing all protein-coding regions of the genome in two people with combined hypolipidemia, researchers have identified a gene that may lead to a new method to lower LDL cholesterol. The report by Kiran Musunuru and colleagues, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has its origins in a study started in 1994 of […]

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October 13th, 2010

Transfusions and Cardiac Surgery: “A Major Concern”

Larry Husten, PHD

One new study in JAMA demonstrates very wide differences among hospitals in the use of transfusions during cardiac surgery. A second study finds no differences in outcome based on transfusions. Two editorialists write that “continued inappropriate transfusions among hospitals is a major concern.” Bennett-Guerro and colleagues analyzed the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery […]

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October 12th, 2010

Heart Failure and Resource Use at the End of the Road

Larry Husten, PHD

Two studies of heart failure populations — one conducted in the U.S. and one in Canada —  shed light on patterns of resource use in the last 6 months of life. Both studies appear in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Kathleen Unroe and colleagues retrospectively analyzed resource use in a cohort of nearly 230,000 U.S. […]

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