November 4th, 2014
Nonobstructive Coronary Artery Disease Linked to Elevated Risk
Larry Husten, PHD
A large number of people who undergo elective coronary angiography are found to have nonobstructive coronary artery disease, and these patients have significantly increased risk for myocardial infarction and death, according to a retrospective study published in JAMA. Thomas Maddox and colleagues analyzed data from nearly 38,000 elective angiography patients in the VA health system. More than […]
November 3rd, 2014
AF Patients at Increased Risk for Silent Strokes
Larry Husten, PHD
The increased risk of stroke in people with atrial fibrillation (AF) is well known, and this stroke risk is, of course, linked to an increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. Less well known is that people with AF have an increased risk for cognitive impairment independent of their stroke risk. Now a new study […]
November 3rd, 2014
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: November 3rd
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include dual-antiplatelet treatment beyond one year after DES implantation, reappraisal of thienopyridine pretreatment in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome, and more.
November 3rd, 2014
Economic Study Finds VTE Prophylaxis with Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin Cost Effective
Larry Husten, PHD
Critically ill patients in the hospital are at high risk for developing venous thromboembolism (VTE). The 2011 PROTECT trial compared the two most common drug strategies used to prevent VTE — unfractionated heparin (UFH) and dalteparin, a low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) — and found no difference between the two groups in the primary endpoint of the trial, leg deep-vein thrombosis. But […]
October 31st, 2014
FDA Advisory Panel Gives Tepid Support to New Anticoagulant
Larry Husten, PHD
On Thursday the FDA’s Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee voted 9-1 in favor of approval for Daiichi Sankyo’s edoxaban (Savaysa). The outcome will likely result in a drug that will be on the market, but that few physicians will prescribe until further studies are performed. Edoxaban will almost certainly become the fourth new oral anticoagulant (NOAC) to […]
October 30th, 2014
Engineering Student Invents Flying Ambulance Drone to Deliver AED to SCA Patients
Larry Husten, PHD
Drones have been used to kill people in war zones and to spy on people. Now a sharp young engineering graduate student in the Netherlands has come up with an innovative new use for drones that might one day shorten the time to defibrillation for people with sudden cardiac arrest. Alec Momont, an engineering grad student […]
October 30th, 2014
Aortic Valve Surgery for Nonagenarians
Larry Husten, PHD
As people continue to live longer physicians are increasingly confronted with very elderly patients who have serious conditions that might benefit from surgery but who are at high risk for surgical complications. In a paper published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, doctors at the Mayo Clinic reviewed their experience with 59 patients age 90 or […]
October 27th, 2014
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: October 27th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include behavioral counseling for those with CV risk factors, long-term outcomes after stenting vs. endarterectomy for treatment of symptomatic carotid stenosis, and more.
October 26th, 2014
Genetic Study Suggests Possible Causal Role for LDL in Aortic Valve Disease
Larry Husten, PHD
Although LDL is an important risk factor for aortic valve disease, the precise role it plays has been uncertain. Lipid-lowering therapy in people with established aortic valve disease has not been shown to be beneficial. Now, however, a new genetic study published in JAMA suggests that LDL cholesterol may in fact cause an increase in aortic […]
October 21st, 2014
Study Behind the Green Coffee Bean Diet Craze Retracted
Larry Husten, PHD
The “scientific” paper that helped ignite the green coffee bean diet craze has been retracted. The details of the retraction and the full background of the story were fully reported by Ivan Oransky on Retraction Watch. The paper, published in Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy, purported to report the substantial weight loss findings of a randomized, […]
NEJM Journal Watch — Recent Cardiology Articles- Patients Need Standardized Education for Accurate Home Blood Pressure Monitoring
- Does P2Y12 Inhibitor Pretreatment Improve Outcomes in Non–ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes?
- Is Anticoagulation Useful for Patients with Subclinical Atrial Fibrillation?
- Is Anticoagulation Alone Sufficient After Caval or Iliofemoral Venous Stenting for PTS?
- Antithrombotic Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation and ACS or PCI: Choosing a Regimen Based on the Totality of Events