CardioExchange Archive

September 6th, 2010

What’s at the Heart of This Patient’s Problem?

Anju Nohria, MD and James Fang, MD

The patient is a 53-year-old lawyer with no cardiac risk factors other than a 70 pack-year history of smoking. He has a known history of diverticulitis with prior gastrointestinal bleeding and presented with lightheadedness and bright red blood per rectum. Initial evaluation revealed a drop in his hematocrit from 43% to 39%. He underwent a […]

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September 3rd, 2010

ESC: Similarities and Differences

Susan Cheng, MD

Many things about ESC  felt different compared to other conferences I’ve attended  — and as many felt the same. The basics were familiar— the welcome booths, the exhibits, and the masses of semi-serious looking people sporting the requisite badge-plus-bag accessory combo. (Thank goodness the bags were bright green and easy to spot from a mile away, […]

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September 1st, 2010

NEJM Editors Call for Removal of Sibutramine from U.S. Market

Larry Husten, PHD

Earlier this year, following the discovery of signals of potential danger in a large clinical trial, the weight loss drug sibutramine (Meridia) was withdrawn from the market in Europe while the FDA added a strongly worded contraindication to its use in people with cardiovascular disease. Now, 2 weeks before an FDA advisory panel will vote […]

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September 1st, 2010

Breathing Easier with Compression-Only CPR

Larry Husten, PHD

A recent NEJM study showed that out-of-hospital, cardiac-arrest patients who received compression-only CPR or traditional CPR had similar survival rates. We asked Mark Link, a member of the AHA Advanced Cardiac Life Support Committee, questions about this latest research. Read what he has to say, then ask him your own questions here.

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August 31st, 2010

The CURE for Clopidogrel Genotyping?

Guillaume Pare, MD, MSc

CardioExchange welcomes Guillaume Paré to discuss his team’s work on the  utility of clopidogrel genotyping. The researchers genotyped for CYP2C19 alleles associated with loss-of-function or gain-of-function of clopidogrel in some 5,000 patients with ACS or A-fib from two large randomized trials. In both studies, clopidogrel had similar efficacy over placebo regardless of whether patients had […]

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August 31st, 2010

No Benefits for Low-Dose Heparin Over Standard Heparin in FUTURA/OASIS-8

Larry Husten, PHD

FUTURA (Fondaparinux Trial With Unfractionated Heparin During Revascularization in Acute Coronary Syndromes)/OASIS-8 is the first trial to compare low-dose unfractionated heparin with conventional heparin dosing in PCI patients receiving fondaparinux. Sanjit Jolly and colleagues randomized 2026 non-STEMI high-risk patients undergoing PCI within 72 hours to either low-dose unfractionated heparin or a standard dose of heparin […]

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August 31st, 2010

ESC: The Good, the Bad, and the Better

Susan Cheng, MD

As far as conferences go, I’m impressed. It’s only day two for me, but I can already say that I would come back. The workshops and clinical sessions are solid. The original science being presented is plentiful and of good quality. One Austrian colleague mentioned he was particularly pleased with the growth of basic science […]

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August 30th, 2010

4-Year Findings from the REACH Registry

Larry Husten, PHD

“Not all atherothrombosis is equal.” That’s the message from the latest findings of the international REACH (Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health) registry of more than 45,000 patients with “various manifestations” of atherothrombosis. According to the REACH investigators, “easily demarcated subgroups of atherothrombotic patients had widely varying risks [for future ischemic events], ranging from 7% […]

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August 29th, 2010

ESC First Impressions: Size Matters

Susan Cheng, MD

I’ll admit I was a bit guarded about my first ESC conference, largely due to what seemed to be looming logistical issues. Despite all of Stockholm’s reported charm, it was hard to imagine how a city of this size was going to manage the invasion of over 20,000 — and possibly up to 30,000 — […]

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August 29th, 2010

Genetic Substudies of Large Trials Question Value of Clopidogrel Genotyping

Larry Husten, PHD

Genetic substudies across a broad range of large clinical trials that used clopidogrel raise questions about the clinical utility of clopidogrel genotyping. The substudies come from large and important trials like PLATO, TRITON-TIMI 38, CURE, and ACTIVE A. A genetic substudy of PLATO finds that ticagrelor is superior to clopidogrel irrespective of genetic subtype. Therefore, […]

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