CardioExchange Archive

September 15th, 2010

TREAT Analysis: Target Dosing Is Tricky

Larry Husten, PHD

A new analysis of TREAT (Trial to Reduce Cardiovascular Events with Aranesp Therapy) is raising questions about the use of target-based strategies for the treatment of anemia in people with chronic kidney disease. (Last year, the main TREAT results showed that treatment with darbepoetin alfa was not beneficial – and was associated with an increase in the […]

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September 15th, 2010

A Fistful of Stents

PZ Myers, Ph.D.

CardioExchange welcomes this guest post from Pharyngula, a blog by PZ Myers, an associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Dr. Myers recounts his PCI experience from the patient’s point of view. Here’s my status right now, for those who have been wondering. First of all, I’m not dead yet. Let’s get […]

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September 13th, 2010

Three-year SYNTAX Results: Sensible, Not Sensational

Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA

In SYNTAX, 1800 patients with multivessel and/or left main disease were randomized to CABG or PCI with DES after a surgeon and an interventional cardiologist reviewed the coronary angiogram and agreed that either procedure was appropriate. (See the CardioExchange News blog for more study information.) The SYNTAX 3-year results show that patients with a low […]

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September 13th, 2010

Fellowship Training Around the World

James De Lemos, MD

In the last of a series of posts from the ESC meetings, Susan Cheng offered some interesting insights into differences between the ESC and the large U.S. meetings such as AHA and ACC, including major differences in how research is funded and performed in countries outside the U.S. Comoderator Andy Kates and I started thinking […]

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September 9th, 2010

Getting to the Heart of the Problem

CardioExchange Editors, Staff

You told us how you’d handle our latest case: A 53-year-old smoker with a history of diverticulitis and prior gastrointestinal bleeding presents with lightheadedness and bright red blood per rectum. Ultimately, a partial colectomy is recommended. Now, heart-failure specialist Jim Fang weighs in with his recommendations. Do you agree? Tell us why or why not.

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September 9th, 2010

Protective Effect of Education Only Occurs in High-Income Countries

Larry Husten, PHD

The well-known cardiovascular protective effect of education only occurs in high-income countries (HICs), according to a new report from the REACH registry appearing in Circulation. A striking finding was that highly educated women were more likely than their less educated counterparts to smoke in both affluent countries and less affluent countries. The authors point out that […]

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September 8th, 2010

New Therapy for a Rare Syndrome

Larry Husten, PHD

A team of French and Belgian investigators have found a promising new treatment for a rare inherited disorder that often leads to vascular dissection or rupture. In a report published online in the Lancet, Kim-Thanh Ong and colleagues compared the effect of celiprolol, a beta-blocker with beta-2 agonist properties, with placebo in 53 patients with […]

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September 8th, 2010

I’m an Awesome Doc!

drgrumpy and Larry Husten, PHD

CardioExchange welcomes this guest post, reprinted with permission, from  practicing neurologist “Dr. Grumpy.” The article originally appeared in his blog, Doctor Grumpy in the House. You’ve seen it, somewhere. Every city in America, and likely the world, has a local magazine. And once a year, that magazine publishes a “Best Docs” issue, usually listing 10 […]

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September 8th, 2010

“Cath Lab, We Have A Problem”?

Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA

According to a recently published study, a huge disconnect apparently exists between patients’ and cardiologists’ beliefs about the benefits of PCI. The patients had been referred for coronary angiography and possible PCI, had discussed PCI with a physician, and had provided informed consent. Most patients (~88%) believed that PCI would reduce their risks of MI, whereas most […]

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September 7th, 2010

Patients Still Overestimate Benefits of Elective PCI

Larry Husten, PHD

Patients who undergo elective PCI continue to overestimate the procedure’s benefits, according to a small study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Michael Rothberg and colleagues surveyed 153 patients and 27 cardiologists at a single academic center and found that 88% of the patients thought PCI would reduce their risk for MI and 82% […]

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