CardioExchange Archive

May 20th, 2014

Hopes and Beliefs: How Patients Respond to Informed-Consent Tools

Todd K. Rosengart, MD

Todd Rosengart answers Harlan Krumholz’s questions about his study of informed consent in patients scheduled for PCI.

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May 19th, 2014

Hospitalizations for AF Are on the Increase

Larry Husten, PHD

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in atrial fibrillation (AF). Now a new study published in Circulation finds that hospitalizations for AF are on the increase, and this may have important implications for the delivery and economics of health care in the coming years. Researchers analyzed data  from nearly 4,000,000 hospitalizations in which AF […]

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May 19th, 2014

Case: A Young Pregnant Woman with Prior Valvular Disease and Increasing Dyspnea on Exertion

Reva Balakrishnan, MD, MPH and James Fang, MD

Reva Balakrishnan presents the case of a 22-year-old pregnant woman with a history of valvular disease who is experiencing an increase in dyspnea on exertion.

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May 18th, 2014

Statins Disappoint In COPD And ARDS

Larry Husten, PHD

Two NHLBI studies have failed to find any benefit for statin therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Previous observational studies had raised the possibility that statins, perhaps due to their anti-inflammatory effects, might improve outcomes in people with these serious diseases. But both trials were stopped early by […]

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May 15th, 2014

Exercise: Can There Be Too Much of a Good Thing?

Larry Husten, PHD

In recent years researchers have developed a more complicated view of the relationship of health and exercise. Although observational studies have consistently shown that some physical activity is better than none, studies that have drilled deeper into the data suggest that these health benefits may be curtailed in people who exercise very frequently or very […]

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May 14th, 2014

BMJ Articles Critical of Statins Provoke Kerfuffle

Larry Husten, PHD

The authors of two BMJ articles have withdrawn statements about the adverse effects of statins. The papers inaccurately cite an earlier publication and therefore may overstate the incidence of adverse effects. As a result, the two papers have drawn much criticism and set off a kerfuffle involving the editor of BMJ and a highly prominent British trialist who is demanding a […]

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May 14th, 2014

Informed Interpretation of the 20-Year Results of the DIGAMI Trial

Valentin Fuster, MD

Darren McGuire gives us his perspective on the DIGAMI trial results.

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May 13th, 2014

A Second Darapladib Phase 3 Trial Misses Its Endpoint

Larry Husten, PHD

GSK said today that a large phase 3 trial of a once highly promising drug had failed to meet its primary endpoint. Last year the company announced that another phase 3 trial with the same drug had failed. GSK said it would “further analyse the data and better understand the findings” but that, for now at least, […]

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May 13th, 2014

The Effect of Incarceration on the Epidemiology of Heart Disease

Emily Wang, MD, MAS

Emily Wang discusses how studies of health outcomes are compromised when subjects, particularly black men, are incarcerated and can no longer be followed.

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May 13th, 2014

FDA Study Provides Some Reassurance About Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa

Larry Husten, PHD

In the latest development in its ongoing review of the new oral anticoagulant dabigatran (Pradaxa, Boehringer Ingelheim), the FDA today offered largely reassuring news about the sometimes controversial drug. The FDA study of over 134,000 Medicare patients found that dabigatran was associated with a reduced risk for ischemic stroke, bleeding in the brain, and death, compared with […]

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