CardioExchange Archive

May 16th, 2011

Sleep Deprivation Not as Bad as We Think for Cardiac Surgeons

Larry Husten, PHD

Sleep deprivation in cardiac surgeons does not lead to worse surgical outcomes, according to a study published in the Archives of Surgery. Michael Chu and colleagues collected sleep information from six consultant surgeons working at a large hospital in Ontario, Canada and outcome data from their 4,047 patients who underwent cardiac surgery from 2004 through 2009. […]

---

May 13th, 2011

ProPublica Takes Aim at SCAI

Larry Husten, PHD

Now it’s SCAI’s turn. Following its investigation of the Heart Rhythm Society’s ties to industry last week, ProPublica has now focused its attention on the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). In the latest installment of ProPublica’s Dollars for Doctors series, Charles Ornstein writes that SCAI “received 57 percent of its revenues in 2009 […]

---

May 12th, 2011

TAVI & Stroke: More Details Surface About PARTNER A

Larry Husten, PHD

In the past year transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has emerged as a possible new treatment for patients with aortic valve disease who are not surgical candidates (the PARTNER B study) and for some patients as a viable alternative to surgery (the PARTNER A study). TAVI was found to be noninferior to surgery in the […]

---

May 10th, 2011

Trial REVEALs No Benefit and Some Concerns with Erythropoietin After Primary PCI

Larry Husten, PHD

Erythropoietin alfa failed to reduce infarct size and was associated with more cardiovascular events when given after successful PCI in STEMI patients, according to results from the REVEAL (Reduction of Infarct Expansion and Ventricular Remodeling With Erythropoietin After Large Myocardial Infarction) trial published in JAMA. In the trial, which included a dose-escalation safety phase and a […]

---

May 10th, 2011

Short-Term NSAID Use Linked to Increased CV Risk

Larry Husten, PHD

Short-term use of NSAIDs, including diclofenac, is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, according to a very large study published online in Circulation. Danish researchers used a national registry to study more than 83,000 patients who were admitted to the hospital for a first MI from 1997 to 2006. Some 42% of the patients received NSAIDs during […]

---

May 9th, 2011

Higher Periprocedural Risk for Stroke Found in Women Undergoing Carotid Stenting

Larry Husten, PHD

The periprocedural risk for stroke is higher among women undergoing carotid artery stenting than among those undergoing carotid endarterectomy, according to new results from the Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST) published online in the Lancet Neurology. The same pattern was not found in men. Last year, the main results from CREST showed no overall […]

---

May 6th, 2011

News Reports Scrutinize Heart Rhythm Society’s Ties To Industry

Larry Husten, PHD

A series of investigative reports published on ProPublica analyzes the financial relationships between medical societies and drug and device companies. The Heart Rhythm Society, whose annual meeting is now taking place in San Francisco, comes in for especially close scrutiny. The series begins: “From the time they arrived to the moment they laid their heads on […]

---

May 5th, 2011

5 Patients Infected With Hepatitis C While Undergoing MPI

Larry Husten, PHD

Five patients undergoing myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) at a single outpatient clinic in North Carolina were infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) during the procedure, according to a paper published online in the American Journal of Cardoliology. Public health officials from North Carolina and the CDC report that their investigation began in May 2008 […]

---

May 4th, 2011

Study Estimates That Atrial Fibrillation Adds $26 Billion to Yearly U.S. Healthcare Costs

Larry Husten, PHD

Atrial fibrillation may add $26 billion to the nation’s healthcare bill, according to a study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Michael Kim and colleagues compared insurance claims for 1 year from 89,066 AF patients with claims from controls matched for gender, age, and other medical conditions and found that AF results in a […]

---

May 3rd, 2011

Study Challenges Efforts to Lower Salt in the General Population

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study challenges the conventional wisdom that lowering salt intake in the general population will result in fewer cardiovascular events. In a paper in JAMA, Katarzyna Stolarz-Skrzypek and colleagues report the results of the study, in which they followed 3,681 European people without cardiovascular disease after measuring their blood pressure and urinary sodium excretion. After […]

---