CardioExchange Archive

October 24th, 2013

Surgery Preferable to Stents in Elderly People with Carotid Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

Age should play an important role in choosing a revascularization procedure for people with blocked carotid arteries, according to a new paper published in JAMA Surgery.  Carotid endarterectomy surgery (CEA) is preferable to carotid artery stenting (CAS) in elderly people; for younger patients, the two revascularization procedures are broadly similar. George Antoniou and colleagues analyzed data from 44 studies […]

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October 23rd, 2013

Flu Vaccine May Help Prevent Cardiovascular Events

Larry Husten, PHD

A new meta-analysis published in JAMA offers the best evidence yet that the flu vaccine may help prevent cardiovascular events. Jacob Udell and colleagues analyzed data from five published clinical trials in which 6469 patients were randomized to flu vaccination or placebo (or no treatment). People who received the flu vaccine were significantly less likely than controls to […]

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October 23rd, 2013

FDA Approves First New Atherectomy Device in 20 Years

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA on Tuesday granted PMA approval to the Diamondback 360 Coronary Orbital Atherectomy System (OAS) for the treatment of severely calcified coronary arteries. Cardiovascular Systems, the manufacturer of the device, said that the OAS  was the first new coronary atherectomy system to receive FDA approval in two decades. The company said it would begin a controlled launch of […]

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October 22nd, 2013

No Support for Broad Screening of Chronic Kidney Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

Although taught in  medical school and widely used in clinical practice, broad screening of otherwise healthy people for chronic kidney disease (CKD) is unwarranted, according to new recommendations from the American College of Physicians published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. People with early kidney disease, who are classified as having stages 1 to 3 CKD, usually […]

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October 19th, 2013

Was Dick Cheney’s ICD Vulnerable to Hacking?

Larry Husten, PHD

It happened in Homeland. Could it happen in real life? In a 60 Minutes segment, Dick Cheney says that his doctors turned off the wireless function of his implanted cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) “in case a terrorist tried to send his heart a fatal shock,” according to the Associated Press. Years later, Cheney watched an episode of the Showtime series Homeland, in which […]

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October 18th, 2013

FDA Approves New Pulmonary Hypertension Drug from Actelion

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA today approved macitentan (Opsumit, Actelion), a new oral endothelin-receptor antagonist that is an enhanced version of the company’s bosentan (Tracleer). The drug is indicated to delay disease progression in patients who have pulmonary arterial hypertension (WHO Group I). Last August the results of the pivotal phase 3 trial, SERAPHIN (Study with an Endothelin Receptor Antagonist in Pulmonary […]

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October 17th, 2013

New Insights Into Surgery vs. Stents for Diabetics with Multivessel Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

Last year the large NHLBI FREEDOM trial demonstrated that coronary-artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery was superior to PCI when treating diabetic patients who have multivessel coronary disease. CABG resulted in significant reductions in death and MI, but this was offset slightly by a higher rate of stroke in the CABG group. Now, a new report from FREEDOM […]

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October 16th, 2013

FDA Advisory Panel: No Expanded Indication for Vascepa Without Outcomes Trial

Larry Husten, PHD

An FDA advisory panel today failed to recommend an expanded indication for Vascepa, the purified EPA fish-oil product from Amarin. Vascepa is currently indicated only for the relatively small number of people with severe hypertriglyceridemia (>500 mg/dL). The proposed new indication would have greatly expanded the patient population eligible to receive Vascepa to the 20% of […]

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October 15th, 2013

First Leadless Pacemaker Gains Approval in Europe

Larry Husten, PHD

St. Jude Medical announced on Monday that the world’s first leadless pacemaker has gained CE Mark approval in Europe. The company also announced that it was buying Nanostim, the company that developed the innovative device. The FDA recently granted conditional approval for an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application and a pivotal clinical trial, St. Jude […]

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October 15th, 2013

Former ACC CEO Takes Reins of Cardiovascular Research Foundation

Larry Husten, PHD

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) announced today that it has appointed Jack Lewin as its next President and Chief Executive Officer. Lewin is the former CEO of the American College of Cardiology. In April 2012, the ACC announced his abrupt departure from the college. No explanation was ever given for the sudden change. The CRF said that Lewin will also serve […]

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