CardioExchange Archive

June 4th, 2014

Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease in the U.K.: It’s Complicated

Larry Husten, PHD

Epidemiology studies have provided powerful evidence linking air pollution to cardiovascular disease, especially MI and stroke. By some estimates, air pollution may be responsible for 3.2 million deaths each year, most from cardiovascular causes. At first glance, a new study published in Heart appears to cast doubt on this association. Analyzing U.K. data from more than 400,000 MIs, […]

---

June 3rd, 2014

Prophylactic ICDs Appear Effective in Less Severe HF Patients

Larry Husten, PHD

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators are routinely implanted in heart failure patients with ejection fractions of 35% and lower to prevent sudden cardiac death. However, the benefits in patients at the higher end of the spectrum — EFs between 30% and 35% — have not been well demonstrated in clinical trials, since few patients in this range have […]

---

June 2nd, 2014

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: June 2nd

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include the durability of class I ACC/AHA clinical practice guideline recommendations and several papers on hypertension.

---

May 29th, 2014

SERIES: What Do You Say to Your Patient?

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

CardioExchange introduces a new series on communicating with patients about complex or controversial topics.

---

May 29th, 2014

Large Study Uncovers New Details About the Role of Hypertension in CVD

Larry Husten, PHD

Although high blood pressure has long been recognized and studied as a cardiovascular risk factor, a large new study published in the Lancet provides a more detailed, granular view of the specific role of different forms of hypertension. Eleni Rapsomaniki and colleagues in the U.K. analyzed data from 1.25 million people without existing cardiovascular disease age 30 and […]

---

May 28th, 2014

Portrait of the Global Obesity Pandemic

Larry Husten, PHD

A new, comprehensive analysis, published in the Lancet, paints a frightening portrait of the global obesity pandemic.  Analyzing data from a wide variety of international sources, the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 finds that from 1980 through 2013, the worldwide prevalence of overweight and obesity rose by 27.5% for adults and by 47.1% for children. The […]

---

May 28th, 2014

Prescription Delay Following Stent Implantation Is a Common and Deadly Problem

Larry Husten, PHD

After receiving a stent, many patients delay or fail to fill their prescription for clopidogrel or another antiplatelet agent. Now, a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association offers evidence that this problem is widespread and often leads to serious consequences. Researchers analyzed data from all stent implantations performed in British Columbia from […]

---

May 27th, 2014

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: May 27th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include mortality trends in patients with diabetes, cardiovascular remodeling in CAD and HF, and more.

---

May 27th, 2014

Choosing a Prosthetic Valve: What Do You Say to Your Patient?

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

In this scenario based on prosthetic valve choice, Harlan Krumholz asks, “What do you say to your patient?”

---

May 21st, 2014

The Risk-Prediction Conundrum: Individual Risk vs. Population Risk

John W McEvoy, MB BCh BAO

John W. McEvoy discusses his recent review article about how to interpret cardiac risk for an individual patient when risk estimates are more accurate for populations of patients.

---