CardioExchange Archive

February 20th, 2010

Senators and FDA Officials Attack Avandia

Larry Husten, PHD

A front page story in the New York Times reports that U.S. Senators and FDA officials are raising new questions about Avandia (rosiglitazone). A soon-to-be-released Senate report asks whether it is ethical to continue the ongoing 16,000 patient TIDE trial, while several FDA officials recommend that the drug should be removed from the market. In […]

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February 18th, 2010

Thursday, February 18 News: Renal Outcomes in ACCOMPLISH Published in Lancet

Larry Husten, PHD

The combination of benazepril plus amlodipine was more effective than the combination of benazepril plus hydrochlorothiazide in preventing progression of chronic kidney disease, according to a new report from the Avoiding Cardiovascular Events in Combination Therapy in Patients Living with Systolic Hypertension (ACCOMPLISH) trial published online in the Lancet. ACCOMPLISH investigators had previously reported the main results of […]

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February 17th, 2010

Wednesday, February 17 News Roundup: Statins & Diabetes; ARTS II at 5 Years

Larry Husten, PHD

Statins & Diabetes: Following the recent observation from JUPITER of an increased risk of developing diabetes among patients taking rosuvastatin, a large meta-analysis in the Lancet by Sattar et al. has found a small but significant increase in the risk of diabetes for all statins. The authors conclude that “the risk is low both in absolute terms […]

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February 16th, 2010

Tuesday, February 16 News Roundup: Women & CV Disease — HRT, Genetic Testing, and More

Larry Husten, PHD

HRT & Increased Risk: A new report from the Women’s Health Initiative in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds “no suggestion of a decreased risk for CHD … within the first 2 years” of HRT, even in women who started therapy within 10 years after menopause. For women who started HRT close to menopause, a “possible” […]

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February 12th, 2010

Stents in the News

Larry Husten, PHD

Bill Clinton’s stent procedure received enormous amounts of attention in the news. Some of the reports even contained various doses of truthful information, though many were riddled with inaccuracies and misperceptions. According to reliable accounts, Clinton had a closed vein graft and received two Xience stents in his left circumflex artery at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center […]

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February 11th, 2010

Study finds significant lesions in one-fifth of patients with zero calcium scores

Larry Husten, PHD

(Note to readers: CardioExchange invited experts with divergent opinions about this study to participate in a debate. The first part of the debate, including comments from PK Shah, Matthew Budoff, and Rita Redberg, is presented at the bottom of this news story.) A calcium score of zero does not completely rule out significant coronary disease, […]

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February 11th, 2010

Thursday, February 11 News: Fulminant Myocarditis in Children with H1N1

Larry Husten, PHD

Myocarditis & H1N1 in Children: In an expedited research correspondence appearing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Bratincsák et al. report four cases of children with H1N1 influenza A virus at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego who developed myocarditis, including three with fulminant myocarditis with fatal or near-fatal outcomes. The authors […]

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February 10th, 2010

Wednesday February 10 News Blizzard: Childhood Obesity & CV Disease; Migraine & CV Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

Childhood Obesity & CV Disease: Researchers followed 4,857 American Indian children without diabetes who were born between 1945 and 1984. They found significantly increased risk of premature death in children with obesity, glucose intolerance, and hypertension. By contrast, childhood hypercholesterolemia did not predict early death. The study by Franks and colleagues appears in the New England Journal […]

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February 9th, 2010

Tuesday February 9 News Roundup: Rosuvastatin Gets Primary Prevention Indication; Providing Global Risk Assessment; IBD & VTE

Larry Husten, PHD

New Indication for Crestor: The FDA on Monday granted a primary prevention indication for rosuvastatin (Crestor, AstraZeneca). The decisionis based on the results of the JUPITER trial and a subsequent FDA advisory panel hearing. Click here to read the FDA’s Questions and Answers from the FDA for Healthcare Professionals on CRESTOR and the JUPITER Trial. Click […]

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February 8th, 2010

Monday February 8 News Roundup: Zero Calcium Score; AHA/ACC Scientific Statement on TdP; Warning on Boston Scientific ICDs  

Larry Husten, PHD

What Does a Zero Calcium Score Mean? In a high risk group scheduled for angiography, having a zero calcium score does not mean a zero chance of coronary disease. In a paper appearing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Gottlieb and colleagues obtained calcium scores from 291 patients scheduled for angiography and […]

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