CardioExchange Archive

July 30th, 2013

More Bad News for Valsartan

Larry Husten, PHD

In the last few days, more bad news about valsartan (Diovan, Novartis) has emerged. Another major study conducted in Japan — the Jikei Heart Study — will be retracted, and Japanese health authorities said they were investigating severe skin reactions associated with use of the drug. The new events are only the latest problems for the […]

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July 29th, 2013

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: July 29th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include riociguat for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, renal outcomes associated with invasive vs. conservative management of ACS, statins and musculoskeletal conditions, arthropathies, and injuries, and more.

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July 29th, 2013

Sex and the Cardiac Patient Should Not be a Taboo Subject

Larry Husten, PHD

It’s not an easy conversation to have. After a heart attack or other major cardiac event, talking about sex is awkward, and often avoided by patients, their partners, and physicians. But a new consensus statement from several major cardiology organizations urges physicians to get over their reluctance or embarrassment and counsel their cardiac patients about […]

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July 29th, 2013

Possible Cognitive Benefits Found in Dementia Patients Taking Centrally Acting ACE Inhibitors

Larry Husten, PHD

An observational study from Ireland raises the intriguing possibility that centrally acting ACE inhibitors may help slow the cognitive decline that is a hallmark of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The study, published in BMJ Open, followed the rates of cognitive decline in 3 groups of patients: dementia patients being treated with centrally acting ACE […]

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July 25th, 2013

Novel Pulmonary Hypertension Drug Shows Modest Promise in Phase 3 Trials

Larry Husten, PHD

A new drug appears to have promising — but not game-changing — effects in people with two forms of pulmonary hypertension. Riociguat, a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator under development by Bayer, is thought to have vasodilating, antiproliferative, and antifibrotic effects. Results of two phase 3, placebo-controlled trials were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. CHEST-1 studied the […]

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July 25th, 2013

The Changing Landscape of Pulmonary Hypertension

John Ryan, MD

Two multicenter clinical trials published in the New England Journal of Medicine explore the role of a new oral pulmonary vasodilator in pulmonary hypertension.

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July 25th, 2013

Vasopressin-Epinephrine Plus Corticosteroids Improve Neurologic Status After In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest – Implications for Out-of-Hospital Arrest?

Graham Nichol, MD MPH

Graham Nichol takes a close look at a recent randomized trial that examined whether combined vasopressin-epinephrine plus corticosteroids during CPR could improve survival and neurologic status in patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest.

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July 23rd, 2013

Funding for Landmark Framingham Heart Study Slashed by $4 Million

Larry Husten, PHD

One of the most important studies in the history of medicine will be sharply curtailed as a result of the federal budget cuts. The landmark Framingham Heart Study (FHS) has been told by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) that it will lose  $4 million of its funding. The cut represents 40% of its […]

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July 22nd, 2013

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: July 22nd

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include combined vasopressin-epinephrine and methylprednisolone after in-hospital cardiac arrest, avoiding NSAIDs for patients with heart failure, and more.

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July 18th, 2013

A Glimpse of the Future of Cardiology, Including Star Wars Holograms

Larry Husten, PHD

Goodbye flat images. Hello holography. Sometime in the not-too-far-distant future cardiologists may work with projected 3D holograms of the heart instead of images on a flat screen. And this is just the beginning of a technology-driven transformation of cardiology. That’s the vision of Mount Sinai’s Partho Sengupta, who delivered a widely praised technology-gone-wild lecture at […]

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