CardioExchange Archive

January 14th, 2013

Atrial Fibrillation Linked to Increased Risk for Sudden Cardiac Death

Larry Husten, PHD

Although atrial fibrillation (AF) is well known to be associated with an increase in the risk of stroke and coronary heart disease, a similar association with sudden cardiac death (SCD) has been suspected but not demonstrated in the past. Now, a new study examining data from two large population studies offers evidence that AF is […]

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January 14th, 2013

Advisory Panel Recommends Approval of Diabetes Drug Canagliflozin

Christine Sadlowski, MS

An advisory committee to the FDA recommended approving canagliflozin, a new type of drug for type 2 diabetes, late last week, the New York Times reports. The once-daily oral drug is a selective sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor. It prevents reabsorption of glucose by the kidney, thereby increasing glucose excretion in the urine and reducing […]

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January 11th, 2013

Merck Starts to Suspend Worldwide Availability of Tredaptive

Larry Husten, PHD

In the wake of the negative HPS2-THRIVE study announced last month, Merck said today that it was beginning to suspend the worldwide availability of Tredaptive, its combination of extended-release niacin and laropiprant. Merck described its decision as being “aligned” with that of the European Medicines Agency’s  Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), which recommended on Thursday that drugs containing extended-release niacin and laropiprant should be suspended. The […]

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January 10th, 2013

Acute Kidney Injury Associated With Dual Antihypertensive Therapy And NSAIDs

Larry Husten, PHD

NSAIDs seem to increase the risks for acute kidney injury when taken along with antihypertensive therapy consisting of a diuretic plus an ACE inhibitior or an ARB.

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January 10th, 2013

A New Dimension in Serial LVEF Measurement

Thomas Marwick and John Ryan, MD

John Ryan asks Thomas Marwick about his new study, which found that the most reproducible technique for serial assessment of LVEF is the noncontrast 3D echocardiogram.

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January 8th, 2013

Two Retractions for Embattled Chief Investigator of KYOTO HEART Study

Larry Husten, PHD

The editor of Circulation Journal, the official journal of the Japanese Circulation Society (and not to be confused with the American Heart Association’s [AHA’s] better known Circulation) has announced the retraction of two substudies from the KYOTO HEART Study. The papers, according to the editor, “contain a number of serious errors in data analysis.” The announcement contained no additional information about […]

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January 7th, 2013

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: January 7th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include a study of survival among patients receiving a primary prevention ICD in clinical practice vs. clinical trials and the RELAX-AHF trial, which examined treatment of acute HF with serelaxin.

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January 7th, 2013

After Hurricane Katrina, Timing of Heart Attacks Shifted in New Orleans

Larry Husten, PHD

Prior to Hurricane Katrina, myocardial infarctions (MIs) in New Orleans followed a well-known circadian and septadian (today’s word of the day, meaning day of the week) pattern, with predictable increases on Mondays and in the morning hours. Now a new study from the American Journal of Cardiology finds that the notorious 2005 hurricane dramatically altered that pattern […]

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December 27th, 2012

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

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include an intensive lifestyle intervention and its association with type-2 diabetes remission, strategies for multivessel revascularization in patients with diabetes, and more.

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December 25th, 2012

Autopsy Studies Find Dramatic Drop in Early Atherosclerosis Over the Past 60 Years

Larry Husten, PHD

Military service members who died during the past decade were far less likely to have atherosclerosis than service members who died in Korea or Vietnam, according to a new study published in JAMA. Although it is impossible to fully understand the causes and implications of the finding, the results provide powerful new evidence of a very […]

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