CardioExchange Archive

March 17th, 2014

Phase 4 Actelion Study Misses Primary Endpoint

Larry Husten, PHD

Actelion announced today that a phase 4 study with its blockbuster drug bosentan (Tracleer) had failed to meet its primary endpoint. The COMPASS-2 trial was a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the effect of bosentan on the time to first confirmed event in patients with symptomatic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) already receiving treatment with sildenafil. According to the company, a 17% risk […]

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March 17th, 2014

Meta-Analysis Finds Few Side Effects Caused by Statins

Larry Husten, PHD

Although clinical trials have consistently demonstrated the benefits of statins, especially in secondary prevention, the perception that the drugs can cause serious side effects has prompted some patients to discontinue or not take the drugs. Now, in a paper published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a new meta-analysis of existing trials offers some […]

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March 14th, 2014

Apixaban Gains Indication for DVT Prophylaxis After Knee and Hip Replacement Surgery

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA has approved a new indication for apixaban (Eliquis), the anticoagulant drug manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer. The new indication is for the prophylaxis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism in patients who have undergone hip or knee replacement surgery. The DVT prophylaxis indication joins the previously approved indication of stroke prevention in patients who have […]

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March 13th, 2014

rAAA Patients More Likely to Get Surgery and Survive in the U.S. Than in England

Larry Husten, PHD

Patients with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) have better outcomes in the United States than in England according to a new study published in the Lancet. Researchers at the University of London compared hospital data from 11,799 rAAA patients in England with 23,838 rAAA patients in the U.S. They found that U.S. patients were more likely than […]

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March 12th, 2014

Clinical Trials For Diabetes Drugs Need To Consider Heart Failure

Larry Husten, PHD

Is heart failure the missing 800 pound gorilla in diabetes trials? That’s the argument proposed by a group of  prominent cardiovascular and diabetes researchers. It was long believed that by virtue of their glucose-lowering properties diabetes drugs would confer substantial cardiovascular benefits. That belief is no longer widely held, however, and the FDA now requires cardiovascular […]

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March 11th, 2014

French Surgeons Perform First Totally Endoscopic Aortic Valve Replacement

Larry Husten, PHD

Surgeons in France report that they have performed the first totally endoscopic aortic valve replacement (TEAVR) in two human patients. Their paper has been published in the the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. The new procedure may enable surgeons to replace the aortic valve without opening the chest, though it will still require cardiopulmonary bypass and resection […]

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March 11th, 2014

Cardiologist Tapped to Run the Smithsonian Institution

Larry Husten, PHD

A cardiologist has been chosen by the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents to be the next leader of the Institution.  David Skorton, who is currently the president of Cornell University, will be the Institution’s 13th Secretary, effective July 2015. He will be not only the first cardiologist but also the first physician to run the Smithsonian. Before going to Cornell, […]

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March 5th, 2014

4 Deaths Linked to Thoratec HeartMate II LVAS

Larry Husten, PHD

Thoratec Corporation on Tuesday issued an urgent safety advisory about a serious problem with a key component of the HeartMate II LVAS system. The company said four patients had died and five had a loss of consciousness or other symptoms of hypoperfusion. The episodes occurred when patients and caregivers “experienced difficulties with the process of changing from a […]

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March 4th, 2014

AF Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease Also Benefit from Warfarin

Larry Husten, PHD

Anticoagulation is a cornerstone of therapy for atrial fibrillation because it lowers the heightened risk for stroke in this population. People with chronic kidney disease are also at increased risk for stroke, but the benefits of anticoagulation are less clear in this group, and anticoagulation is used less often in AF patients who have CKD. […]

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March 3rd, 2014

New Guidelines Issued for Valvular Heart Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology today released new practice guidelines for the management of patients with valvular heart disease (VHD). Among its most notable features, the new document provides a new system of classification for VHD and lowers the threshold for interventions, including, for the first time, transcatheter as well […]

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