CardioExchange Archive

October 7th, 2010

Case Closed: What’s at the Heart of this Patient’s Problem?

CardioExchange Editors, Staff

We’ve wrapped up part II of our latest case: A 53-year-old smoker with a history of diverticulitis and prior GI bleeding presents with lightheadedness and bright red blood per rectum. James Fang tells us his recommendations, and Anju Nohria tells us how the patient actually fared. Are you surprised by the outcome? Share your thoughts […]

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October 6th, 2010

Study Finds No Evidence for Clopidogrel-Omeprazole Interaction

Sanjay Kaul, MD and Larry Husten, PHD

A large clinical trial has found no evidence that omeprazole interferes with the cardiovascular efficacy of clopidogrel. COGENT (Clopidogrel and the Optimization of Gastrointestinal Events Trial) randomized 3873 patients eligible for dual antiplatelet therapy to receive aspirin, clopidogrel, and either omeprazole or placebo. The COGENT investigators had planned to enroll 5000 patients, but the trial […]

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October 6th, 2010

The Skinny on Drug-Eluting Stents (DES)

Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA

(“All we want are the facts, ma’am.” –Joe Friday, Dragnet) Having trouble keeping up with DES and the recent stent studies? Want a brief tutorial? To learn the top six things every cardiologist should know about DES, read on… 1. What they do. DES are superior to both bare-metal stents and angioplasty in reducing the […]

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October 5th, 2010

Has Subgroup Exuberance Led to Misleading Advertising?

CardioExchange Editors, Staff

Harlan Krumholz’s latest Journal Club installment, which focuses on subgroup analyses from TRITON-TIMI 38, has generated great comments, including Harlan’s own new observation about how these subgroup data are being misused in advertising. Read what he has to say and share your own thoughts here. So I am perusing my current issue of JACC and […]

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October 5th, 2010

Compression-Only CPR Gains More Support

Larry Husten, PHD

There’s more evidence to encourage widespread adoption of chest compression-only CPR by nonmedical responders. Bentley Bobrow and colleagues analyzed data from 4415 adults with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who did not receive CPR from a medical professional. After adjusting for baseline differences, the survival rate did not differ between people who received conventional CPR from lay […]

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October 4th, 2010

Gene Expression Test Brings Modest Improvement to Patient Classification

Larry Husten, PHD

A gene expression test can improve the prediction of CAD but may not be clinically useful, according to results of the Personalized Risk Evaluation and Diagnosis in the Coronary Tree (PREDICT) study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The PREDICT investigators, led by Eric Topol, evaluated a gene expression test based on 23 genes […]

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October 4th, 2010

Study Finds Deep Ties Between Sleep and Weight Loss

Larry Husten, PHD

A good night’s sleep might be a key to losing weight. In a crossover study among 10 overweight people, Arlet Nedeltcheva and colleagues compared the effects of 2 weeks of dieting with 8.5 or 5.5 hours of sleep each night. They found that during the sleep curtailment period, weight loss came more from lean body […]

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October 4th, 2010

Widespread Routine Use of Closure Devices Not Recommended

Larry Husten, PHD

Arterial closure devices (ACDs) “have the potential to improve patient comfort,” but the current evidence isn’t sufficient to support routine use after cardiac catheterization, according to a scientific statement from the AHA published in Circulation. Led by Manesh Patel, the committee analyzed the data and concluded that although it is “reasonable” to consider using an […]

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September 30th, 2010

Don’t Take My Fun Away

John Mandrola, MD, FACC

John Mandrorla is a cardiac electrophysiologist and blogger on matters medical and general. In a recent post to his blog Dr John M, he celebrates his enduring sense that doctoring is still a great job.

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September 29th, 2010

How Are You Managing Co-Morbid Conditions?

Joseph S. Ross, MD, MHS

Some of you may remember a 2005 paper in JAMA, in which relevant clinical practice guidelines were applied to a hypothetical 79-year-old woman. This woman had multiple co-morbid conditions, otherwise known as multimorbidity, including COPD, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, hypertension, and osteoarthritis. The authors surmised that, if guideline-directed care were followed, this hypothetical patient would be […]

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