CardioExchange Archive

CardioExchange, an NEJM practice community for medical professionals dedicated to improving cardiac patient care, was active from 2009 to 2015. CardioExchange fostered discussion between clinicians from across the globe.

Larry Husten, PHD

All posts by Larry Husten, PHD

May 18th, 2010

• AHA and Wii: A Controversial Relationship
• Getting With the Guidelines Reduces Disparities in Treatment

AHA and Wii: A Controversial Relationship: A deal struck between the American Heart Association and Nintendo of America was the subject of a critical news report on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” AHA president Clyde Yancy told GMA that Nintendo was giving $1.5 million over 3 years to the AHA, prompting Columbia University’s David Rothman to […]

Categories: General

May 17th, 2010

• Can Two Million Kidneys Be Wrong?
• What Is the Clinical Utility of CTA?

Can Two Million Kidneys Be Wrong? A new meta-analysis in the Lancet offers strong evidence that glomerular filtration rate and albuminuria are powerful independent predictors of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the general population. Members of the Chronic Kidney Disease Prognosis Consortium used data from over 100,000 participants in studies utilizing urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) […]

Categories: General

May 14th, 2010

Time Window for TPA in Stroke Extended to 4.5 Hours

Time Window for TPA in Stroke Extended to 4.5 Hours: A new pooled analysis in the Lancet provides evidence that rt-PA may be beneficial when given up to 4.5 hours after stroke onset. Kennedy Lees and colleagues added data from 2 recent trials (ECASS III and EPITHET) to 6 earlier trials to re-examine the effect […]

Categories: General

May 13th, 2010

Routine Genotyping for Dual-Antiplatelet Therapy?

Routine Genotyping for Dual-Antiplatelet Therapy? Should genotyping be used routinely to guide dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT)? Two perspectives in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology provide starkly contrasting views of the issue. Samir Damani and Eric Topol, writing in a Viewpoint, note that genetic variations affecting clopidogrel responsiveness are quite common, and are “the root […]

Categories: General

May 12th, 2010

Gust Bardy Answers Questions About the Entirely Subcutaneous ICD

and

Earlier today, at the annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society in Denver, Dr. Gust Bardy presented the initial experience with a promising new device, an entirely subcutaneous ICD (S-ICD). The paper was published simultaneously online in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Bardy graciously agreed to answer questions about the device from the […]

Categories: Electrophysiology, General

May 11th, 2010

• Meta-Analysis Finds Fibrates May Have Benefits
• Big Drop in CHD Mortality in Ontario • Working 9 to 5 Is Good for the Heart

Meta-Analysis Finds Fibrates May Have Benefits: Jun and colleagues analyzed data from 18 placebo-controlled trials of fibrates with 45,058 participants. In their paper in the Lancet, they report that fibrate use was associated with a small but marginally significant 10% reduction in major cardiovascular events (p=0.048) and a slightly larger and highly significant 13% reduction […]

Categories: General

May 10th, 2010

• AHA Scientific Statement on Air Pollution
• Bran Linked to Reduced Mortality Risk in Diabetic Women

AHA Scientific Statement on Air Pollution: The American Heart Association has strengthened its position on air pollution. In an update to a 2004 scientific statement, the new statement, “Particulate Matter Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease,” finds greater evidence linking air pollution to CV disease and reaches several new conclusions, including: Even brief exposure over hours […]

Categories: General

May 7th, 2010

Bad News from Europe; Even Worse News for China

Bad News from Europe; Even Worse News for China: Too many Europeans with coronary disease are not receiving evidence-based treatment, according to a report from the third EUROASPIRE survey. “The majority of coronary patients are not achieving blood pressure, lipid, and diabetes targets as defined in the Prevention Guidelines,” said investigator Dr Kornelia Kotseva, in […]

Categories: General

May 6th, 2010

Large Genetic Study Sheds Light on Triglycerides’ Role in Heart Disease

Large Genetic Study Sheds Light on Triglycerides’ Role in Heart Disease: A large new study appearing in the Lancet provides preliminary evidence that triglycerides may play a causative role in heart disease. Investigators in the Triglyceride Coronary Disease Genetics Consortium and Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration studied a promoter polymorphism of a gene (APOA5) tied to […]

Categories: General

May 5th, 2010

• Second-Generation DES Superior to First-Generation DES
• 5-Year Outcomes for Left Main Stenting

Second-Generation DES Superior to First-Generation DES: The industry-funded SPIRIT IV investigators randomized 3687 patients to receive either an everolimus-eluting stent (EES) or a paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES). Unlike many previous DES trials, patients did not undergo routine follow-up angiography, thereby avoiding potential bias created by the “oculostenotic reflex.” At 1 year, the primary endpoint — target-lesion failure (defined […]

Categories: General

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