CardioExchange Archive

August 13th, 2012

Troponin Test May Allow Rapid MI Rule-Out in the Emergency Department

Larry Husten, PHD

More than three-quarters of people with chest pain can be triaged within an hour of arrival at the emergency department with a novel strategy utilizing high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTnT), according to a study from Switzerland published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The strategy is promising, according to an accompanying editorial, but much work remains before […]

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August 13th, 2012

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: August 13th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include using existing data for new research; normal weight, diabetes, and non-CVD death; cholesterol levels in U.S. kids; statins and diabetes; HDL-C and MI protection; statin treatment; hypertension treatment; clopidogrel and PPIs; and an analysis behind the “innovation crisis” of the pharmaceutical industry.

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August 9th, 2012

Go For a Walk: Can Six-Minute-Walk Distance Predict CV Events?

Alexis L Beatty, MD and John Ryan, MD

In this post, Alexis Beatty discusses her Archives of Internal Medicine study, which found that the Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT) improves risk prediction in people with stable coronary heart disease (CHD). CardioExchange’s John Ryan follows up with questions for Beatty about the test. We have a number of simple tools for predicting risk of […]

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August 8th, 2012

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: August 8th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include heart failure and depression, endoscopic vs. open vein-graft harvest for CABG, linagliptin vs. glimepiride in those with type-2 diabetes, weight gain with smoking cessation, ACE inhibitors and pneumonia risk, and the effect of speech therapy after stroke.

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August 7th, 2012

Reducing MI Readmissions: Time to Turn Objectives into Practice

Betsy Bradley, Ph.D.

A survey finds that while most hospitals have a stated objective to reduce AMI readmissions, adoption of actual strategies to achieve that goal is another matter.

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August 6th, 2012

Hydrochlorothiazide and Nifedipine Linked to Increased Risk for Lip Cancer

Larry Husten, PHD

The antihypertensive drugs hydrochlorothiazide and nifedipine have been linked to a significantly increased risk for lip cancer in a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The link is plausible, write the authors, since the drugs are known to be photosensitizing. Using a large cohort from the Kaiser Permanente system, researchers at Kaiser […]

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July 30th, 2012

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: July 30th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include the ROMICAT-II study, articles on n-3 fatty acids and basal insulin for preventing CV events in those with dysglycemia, citicoline for acute ischemic stroke, hypertension misperceptions and medication adherence, and more.

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July 30th, 2012

And The Survey Says: You Are Thinking About Retirement

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

I saw a news item today with an alarming statistic about the number of doctors who plan to retire in the next decade. We all have days where work can be frustrating – but the article indicated that 45% of cardiologists planned to retire in the next decade. I was thinking about what the natural […]

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July 25th, 2012

ROMICAT-II Provokes Opposing Views on CT Angiography in the ED

Larry Husten, PHD

For patients with suspected acute coronary syndromes (ACS), CT angiography (CTA) compared to standard treatment can reduce the time in the emergency department (ED), according to results of the ROMICAT-II (Rule Out Myocardial Infarction/Ischemia Using Computer-Assisted Tomography) trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, CTA resulted in more tests being performed and increased radiation exposure. […]

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July 24th, 2012

The Academic Squeeze Play

Shengshou Hu, M.D.

With fewer grant-funding opportunities for academic cardiologists, Wes Fisher takes an educated guess about where they may go.

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