CardioExchange Archive

February 13th, 2012

Meta-Analysis Raises More Questions About Routine Use of Aspirin for Primary Prevention

Larry Husten, PHD

Although aspirin can reduce the risk for cardiovascular (CV) events, the associated increase in bleeding suggests that it should not be used routinely in  people without prior CV disease, say the authors of a meta-analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Sreenivasa Rao Kondapally Seshasai and colleagues combined data from nine clinical studies including […]

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February 13th, 2012

Pop Quiz

Shengshou Hu, M.D.

To celebrate Heart Month, CardioExchange welcomes this fun bit of trivia from Dr. Westby Fisher, an electrophysiologist practicing at NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, Illinois, and a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. This piece originally appeared on his blog, Dr. Wes.   What does this graph represent? […]

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February 9th, 2012

The Y Chromosome May Explain Why Men Have Earlier Coronary Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

The earlier onset of coronary artery disease in men has long provoked speculation and research. Now a new study in the Lancet suggests that common variations in the Y chromosome (which is transmitted directly from father to son and does not undergo recombination) may play an important role in the increased risk seen in men. Using […]

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February 9th, 2012

What Are You Doing About Readmission Rates?

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

Today there was news that an insurance company may start incorporating incentives about readmission into its contracts. What are you doing about readmission rates at your institution?

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February 8th, 2012

Two Different Perspectives on the CABG Versus PCI Message in ASCERT

Fred H Edwards, MD, MS, Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and L. David Hillis, MD

At the recent meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), Fred Edwards presented the high-risk subset of ASCERT (ACCF-STS Database Collaboration on the Comparative Effectiveness of Revascularization Strategies). CardioExchange Interventional Cardiology moderators Rick Lange and David Hillis posed the following questions to Edwards and Christopher White, the president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). Rick Lange and […]

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February 7th, 2012

Bleeding Problems Continue to Bedevil Merck’s Novel Antiplatelet Agent Vorapaxar

Larry Husten, PHD

In the large TRA-2P study of more than 26,000 patients with  MI, ischemic stroke, or documented peripheral vascular disease, the novel antiplatelet agent vorapaxar significantly reduced the primary endpoint of CV death, MI, stroke, or urgent coronary revascularization. But treatment resulted in a significant increase in bleeding, including intracranial hemorrhage. The fate of vorapaxar now appears to […]

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February 6th, 2012

Women and ICDs: More Complications, Fewer Benefits

Larry Husten, PHD

After consulting an electrophysiologist, women are just as likely as men to receive an ICD but they suffer more complications and are less likely to benefit from the device, according to a new study from Canada published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Derek MacFadden and colleagues analyzed data from 6021 patients treated at 18 […]

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February 6th, 2012

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Weekly Review: Week of February 6th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include the U.S. obesity plateau, the pros and cons of state-of-the-art CMR, and the MI mortality decline in European countries.

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February 2nd, 2012

The Biggest Opportunities for Cost Savings in Cardiology: Take II

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

Let’s build on the suggestions that the community has made. How do we actually deliver on some on reducing these tests and procedures? What are we still missing?

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February 1st, 2012

Meta-Analysis Confirms Benefits of Statins in Women

Larry Husten, PHD

Although clinical trials have consistently found a beneficial effects for statins, some critics have questioned the strength of the evidence in women, who are often under-represented in clinical trials.  A large new meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology provides the best evidence yet that the relative reductions in events observed in men […]

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