CardioExchange Archive

April 26th, 2013

Conflicting Results from Two Trials of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

Larry Husten, PHD

Two new trials have ended up reporting conflicting results regarding the expansion of the indication for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) for patients without a wide QRS interval.  The positive results of the smaller trial seem likely to be undermined by the early stopping of the much larger trial. The first trial, NARROW-CRT, published in Circulation: Arrhythmia […]

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April 25th, 2013

Another Cleveland Clinic Study Links TMAO to Atherosclerosis

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study from the Cleveland Clinic research group headed by Stanley Hazen offers more evidence in support of the hypothesis that TMAO (trimethylamine-N-oxide) may play a role in the development of heart disease. The new research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, follows closely on a related study published recently in Nature […]

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April 24th, 2013

BLOCK HF: CRT Superior to Conventional Pacing in Heart Failure Patients with AV Block

Larry Husten, PHD

Patients with atrioventricular (AV) block generally receive right ventricular (RV) pacing; cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been restricted to patients with a low ejection fraction and a wide QRS duration. However, RV pacing may worsen LV dysfunction in AV block patients with low ejection fractions. Previous studies have raised the possibility that these patients may […]

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April 23rd, 2013

Study Suggests Benefit for Beta Blockers During Noncardiac Surgery

Larry Husten, PHD

The use of perioperative beta-blockade for noncardiac surgery has been declining as a result of the controversial POISE study, which turned up evidence for harm associated with extended-release metoprolol in this setting. Now a large new observational study published in JAMA offers a contrary perspective by suggesting that perioperative beta-blockade may be beneficial in low- […]

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April 22nd, 2013

Actelion Executive to Head American College of Cardiology

Larry Husten, PHD

Shalom “Shal” Jacobovitz will be the new chief executive officer of the American College of Cardiology, the ACC announced today. Jacobovitz is currently the president of the U.S. division of Actelion Pharmaceuticals, best known for its pulmonary hypertension drugs. Jacobovitz worked at Hoffmann La Roche, Abbott Canada, Nordic Labs, and Marion Merrill Dow before joining Actelion.  He joins the college […]

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April 22nd, 2013

The FDA, Surrogate Endpoints, and Blood Pressure Drugs

Larry Husten, PHD

In recent years the FDA has come under increasing fire for approving drugs on the basis of surrogate endpoints without any evidence of greater clinical benefit. The most famous example of this is the diabetes drug rosiglitazone. Despite strong evidence demonstrating that it was effective at lower blood glucose levels — the surrogate endpoint — serious questions […]

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April 18th, 2013

Advice for Physicians: How to Behave Online

Larry Husten, PHD

Although the internet represents “a new frontier in medicine” for physicians and patients, it also presents numerous and novel challenges to professionalism, according to a position paper from the American College of Physicians and the Federation of State Medical Boards published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The paper offers physicians a new conceptual “framework for analyzing medical […]

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April 16th, 2013

Blood Sample Mismatch Leads ‘Anguished’ Authors to Retract Three Lipitor Papers

Larry Husten, PHD

Three substudies of the influential TNT (Treating to New Targets) trial have been retracted after the sponsor of the trial, Pfizer, discovered that blood samples from the study had been matched to the wrong participants. The main results of TNT, published in 2005 in the New England Journal of Medicine, had a major impact on clinical practice and statin prescription patterns. The […]

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April 16th, 2013

Small Study Links Left Anterior Fascicular Block to AF and CHF

Larry Husten, PHD

In people without known cardiovascular (CV) disease the presence of left anterior fascicular block (LAFB) has not been thought to indicate increased risk. Now a research letter published in JAMA finds evidence that elderly people with LAFB are more likely to die and to develop atrial fibrillation (AF) and congestive heart failure (CHF) than people without LAFB. […]

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April 13th, 2013

FDA Schedules Another 2-Day Avandia Advisory Panel

Larry Husten, PHD

Once again the controversial diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline) will be the subject of a 2-day FDA hearing. According to a meeting announcement scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on April 15, the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee will meet on June 5 and June 6 to  “discuss the results […]

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