CardioExchange Archive

September 9th, 2014

Lower Rate of Microvascular Complications in Statin Users Who Develop Diabetes

Larry Husten, PHD

In recent years, the medical community has become increasingly aware that taking statins can result in slightly higher glucose levels, and this can lead to a diagnosis of diabetes in a small but statistically significant number of people. But it has been unclear whether the diagnosis of diabetes in people taking statins also places them […]

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September 2nd, 2014

Fractional Flow Reserve Gains Support in Stable CAD and NSTEMI

Larry Husten, PHD

Two studies presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Barcelona offered fresh support for fractional flow reserve (FFR), which has been slowly but surely gaining traction in the interventional cardiology community. FFR in Patients with Stable CAD Bernard De Bruyne presented 2-year results from the FAME 2 (Fractional flow reserve versus Angiography for Multivessel Evaluation […]

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September 1st, 2014

New Support For Complete Revascularization During Primary PCI

Larry Husten, PHD

Until recently, MI patients receiving emergency PCI would only have the culprit artery opened. Complete revascularization of non-infarct-related arteries was performed later. The conventional wisdom was that revascularization of non-infarct-related arteries could be dangerous. That wisdom began to change last year with the PRAMI trial, which found no evidence of harm and a suggestion of benefit in […]

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August 31st, 2014

Preliminary Outcomes Results For PCSK9 Inhibitor

Larry Husten, PHD

Amid a slew of new data demonstrating yet again that PCSK9 inhibitors lower LDL cholesterol—drastically and in a wide variety of different patient populations—data from one trial offers the first suggestion that the drugs may in fact improve cardiovascular outcomes. But the analysis, the authors cautioned, is a post-hoc analysis of a trial neither designed nor […]

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August 31st, 2014

SIGNIFY Trial Provokes Sound and Fury Over Controversial Drug

Larry Husten, PHD

The already controversial drug ivabradine just got a little more controversial. The drug, which is marketed by Servier under the brand names of Corlentor and Procoralan, is available in Europe and elsewhere and is used for the treatment of heart failure and stable angina. The drug is not available in the U.S., but it is under development by Amgen for a […]

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August 30th, 2014

PARADIGM-HF Establishes a New Paradigm for Heart Failure Treatment

Larry Husten, PHD

So far as I can tell the only problem with PARADIGM-HF is that the results are so good that it’s boring. Anyone interested can reasonably assume that what they hear or read about PARADIGM-HF — and cardiologists will be seeing and hearing an awful lot about it —  will be overwhelmingly positive. Briefly, the trial did everything […]

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August 28th, 2014

Predicting PARADIGM-HF, or What to Expect When You’re Expecting

Larry Husten, PHD

Larry Husten analyzes the expectations surrounding the upcoming release of PARADIGM-HF and its centerpiece LCZ696 from the perspective of the medical field as well as the world of economics.

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August 25th, 2014

Rise in Popularity of E-Cigarettes Sparks Concerns and Recommendations

Larry Husten, PHD

The recent dramatic rise in popularity of e-cigarettes threatens to reverse hard-fought progress in the war against smoking, according to a new policy statement from the American Heart Association. “E-cigarettes have caused a major shift in the tobacco-control landscape,” said the lead author of the statement, Aruni Bhatnagar, chair of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Louisville. But the […]

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August 21st, 2014

FDA Grants Apixaban Expanded Indication for Venous Thromboembolism

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA today approved an expanded indication for the oral anticoagulant apixaban (Eliquis, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer). Apixaban will now be indicated for the treatment of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), and for the reduction in the risk of recurrent DVT and PE (collectively known as venous thromboembolism) after initial therapy. The supplemental new […]

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August 19th, 2014

Increased Cardiac Risk Linked to Clarithromycin

Larry Husten, PHD

Acute use of the popular macrolide antibiotic clarithromycin has been linked to a small but significant increase in cardiac death. In a report in the BMJ, researchers in Denmark analyzed the effects over a 14-year period of the acute use of penicillin V, roxithromycin, and clarithromycin. Earlier research raised concerns that marcrolide antibiotics in general, and erythromycin and azithromycin in […]

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