CardioExchange Archive

January 8th, 2013

Early Results: Antiplatelet Drug Cangrelor Superior to Clopidogrel in PCI Patients at 48 Hours

Larry Husten, PHD

The experimental antiplatelet drug cangrelor was superior to traditional clopidogrel in reducing ischemic events at 48 hours in PCI patients, according to the Medicines Company, which is developing the drug. The company today announced positive results from the phase 3 CHAMPION PHOENIX trial, a randomized, double-blind study comparing intravenous cangrelor to oral clopidogrel in PCI patients. The […]

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January 8th, 2013

Two Retractions for Embattled Chief Investigator of KYOTO HEART Study

Larry Husten, PHD

The editor of Circulation Journal, the official journal of the Japanese Circulation Society (and not to be confused with the American Heart Association’s [AHA’s] better known Circulation) has announced the retraction of two substudies from the KYOTO HEART Study. The papers, according to the editor, “contain a number of serious errors in data analysis.” The announcement contained no additional information about […]

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January 7th, 2013

After Hurricane Katrina, Timing of Heart Attacks Shifted in New Orleans

Larry Husten, PHD

Prior to Hurricane Katrina, myocardial infarctions (MIs) in New Orleans followed a well-known circadian and septadian (today’s word of the day, meaning day of the week) pattern, with predictable increases on Mondays and in the morning hours. Now a new study from the American Journal of Cardiology finds that the notorious 2005 hurricane dramatically altered that pattern […]

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January 5th, 2013

Ohio Hospital and Cardiology Group Will Pay $4.4 Million to Settle Charges Over Unnecessary PCIs

Larry Husten, PHD

In 2006, Reed Abelson in the New York Times reported that the PCI rate in Elyria, Ohio, was four times the national average. Now, six-and-a-half years later, she reports that the local hospital, EMH Regional Medical Center, has agreed to pay $3.9 million to settle accusations that it billed Medicare for unnecessary PCIs. And the local cardiology group, North Ohio Heart Center, has agreed […]

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January 4th, 2013

Missouri Board Issues Emergency Suspension of Cardiologist Accused of Implanting Unnecessary Stents

Larry Husten, PHD

A Missouri cardiologist who has been accused of unnecessarily implanting stents in six patients has been temporarily barred from seeing patients. The Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts, which licenses physicians and investigates and disciplines physicians in cases of accused misconduct, issued an emergency suspension of the cardiologist’s license to practice, according to a […]

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January 3rd, 2013

Combination of Ezetimibe and Atorvastatin Back on FDA Approval Path

Larry Husten, PHD

A combination tablet containing the cholesterol-lowering drugs ezetimibe and atorvastatin is back on the path to possible FDA approval, according to Merck, which already markets Zetia (ezetimibe) and Vytorin, the combination of ezetimibe and simvastatin. Merck has repeatedly stumbled in its efforts to gain FDA approval of the proposed new drug, which has been dubbed “Son […]

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January 2nd, 2013

CABG Highly Cost-Effective in Diabetics with Multivessel Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

In November the main results of the FREEDOM trial showed that diabetics with multivessel disease do better with CABG than PCI. Now the findings of the trial’s cost-effectiveness study, published online in Circulation, demonstrate that CABG is also highly cost-effective when compared with PCI. Elizabeth Magnuson and colleagues  found that although CABG initially cost nearly $9000 more than PCI ($34,467 […]

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December 28th, 2012

FDA Approves Eliquis (Apixaban) for Stroke Prevention in AF

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA has finally approved apixaban (Eliquis, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer) to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). The action comes after the widely-anticipated drug had been plagued by delays at the FDA but well before the PDUFA deadline of March 17, 2013. Eliquis is the latest member […]

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December 26th, 2012

FDA Approves Lomitapide for Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia

Larry Husten, PHD

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals said today that the FDA had approved lomitapide (Juxtapid) to help further lower cholesterol in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. The approval comes with a box warning about the risk of hepatotoxicity and a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Program which will require certification of health care providers and pharmacies before the drug can be […]

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December 25th, 2012

Autopsy Studies Find Dramatic Drop in Early Atherosclerosis Over the Past 60 Years

Larry Husten, PHD

Military service members who died during the past decade were far less likely to have atherosclerosis than service members who died in Korea or Vietnam, according to a new study published in JAMA. Although it is impossible to fully understand the causes and implications of the finding, the results provide powerful new evidence of a very […]

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