March 12th, 2013
Azithromycin: FDA Issues Cardiac Warning
The antibiotic azithromycin (Zithromax and Zmax) can cause QT interval prolongation and torsades de pointes, the FDA warned on Tuesday. The agency says that healthcare providers should consider risk for fatal heart rhythms when treating patients already at high cardiovascular risk, including people with known prolongation of the QT interval, torsades de pointes, congenital long QT […]
March 9th, 2013
Following an Embargo Break PREVAIL Trial Won’t be Presented at ACC
Larry Husten, PHD
For more of our ACC.13 coverage of late-breaking clinical trials, interviews with the authors of the most important research, and blogs from our fellows on the most interesting presentations at the meeting, check out our Coverage Headquarters. The already complicated story behind the PREVAIL trial, which was designed to confirm the safety and efficacy of the […]
March 4th, 2013
New Insights on Early Repolarization
Joseph Aloysius Walsh, MD and Donald M Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM
A new analysis of more than 5000 CARDIA study participants explores whether the early repolarization ECG pattern has multiple phenotypes.
March 1st, 2013
ACC and HRS Release Appropriate Use Criteria for ICDs and CRTs
Larry Husten, PHD
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) today published appropriate use criteria for implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). The document offers an expert consensus on the appropriateness of 369 separate real-life clinical scenarios in six areas: ICDs for secondary prevention, ICDs for primary prevention, comorbidities, CRT devices, generator replacement, […]
February 19th, 2013
‘So, Doctor, How Bad Is It?’
Reva Balakrishnan, MD, MPH
While on my Electrophysiology rotation, I was asked to interrogate an ICD of a patient who had received a shock from her device the night prior to admission. I performed the interrogation, confirmed that it was an appropriate shock for VT, noting that multiple appropriate shocks had occurred in the preceding months. As I was […]
February 15th, 2013
When Patients Can Obtain Their Own EKG
Shengshou Hu, M.D.
The FDA has approved a device that enables patients to obtain their own EKG with their iPhone. Calling this development “uncharted medicolegal territory”, Wes Fisher explores the potential dilemmas this device will cause for doctors and patients.
February 13th, 2013
FDA Approves Second-Generation MRI-Friendly Pacemaker System from Medtronic
Larry Husten, PHD
Medtronic announced today that the FDA had approved its Advisa DR MRI SureScan, a next-generation pacemaker system specifically designed and tested for use with MRI scanners. The system, which Medtronic said would be launched immediately, includes the Advisa MRI device and two CapSureFix MRI SureScan leads. Medtronic said that more than 100,000 of its first-generation Revo SureScan devices have […]
February 9th, 2013
A Cardiologist Tests an Activity Tracker
Shengshou Hu, M.D.
Looking to lose a few pounds, Wes Fisher tries out a new physical activity tracking device and shares his experience.
January 30th, 2013
Small Study Suggests Yoga May Benefit AF Patients
Larry Husten, PHD
A study published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggests that yoga may benefit people who have atrial fibrillation. The study, which the authors describe as “a small, proof-of-concept study,” is the first of its kind. The findings raise the possibility that yoga may reduce AF symptoms and arrhythmia burden. Other physiological and […]
January 29th, 2013
Popular Antidepressants May Prolong QT Interval
Larry Husten, PHD
In August 2011 the FDA issued a safety communication recommending that the extremely popular antidepressant citalopram (Celexa) not be used at doses greater than 40 mg/day because of a potential increased risk for serious cardiac arrhythmias associated with prolongation of the QT interval. Now a study published in BMJ lends support to this warning and suggests that other antidepressants may […]