CardioExchange Archive

January 25th, 2012

FDA Rejects Proposed Chronic Kidney Disease Indication for Vytorin

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA rejected a new indication for Merck’s Vytorin and Zetia (ezetimibe plus simvastatin and ezetimibe alone) in chronic kidney disease patients. As a consolation prize, however, the agency approved a new label for Vytorin that will incorporate the results of SHARP (Study of Heart and Renal Protection), which found that the drug combination reduced the incidence […]

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January 24th, 2012

Whistleblower Lawsuit Filed Against 5 Cardiologists in Pennsylvania

Larry Husten, PHD

The U.S. government has joined a cardiologist in a whistleblower lawsuit against Hamot Medical Center  in western Pennsylvania  and a group of cardiologists with whom he once practiced, Ed Palattella reports in the Erie Times-News. Cardiologist Tullio Emanuele, who now practices in Kentucky, has accused five former colleagues — members of Medicor Associates Inc. and its affiliate, Flagship […]

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January 24th, 2012

Black Tea Found to Lower Blood Pressure

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine provides the best evidence yet that drinking black tea can lower blood pressure. Jonathan M. Hodgson and colleagues randomized 95 regular tea drinkers to 3 cups per day of either black tea (containing 429 mg of polyphenols and 96 mg of caffeine) or placebo. At 3 and […]

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January 23rd, 2012

Rita Redberg and Roger Blumenthal Clash Over Statins for Primary Prevention in the Wall Street Journal

Larry Husten, PHD

The debate over whether statins should be used for primary prevention moved to the Wall Street Journal with opposing perspectives from cardiologists Roger Blumenthal and Rita Redberg. Blumenthal argues that “there is a mountain of high-quality scientific evidence” to support the use of statins in people without known heart disease but “demonstrated to be at high risk […]

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January 23rd, 2012

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Weekly Review: Week of January 23rd

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include bridging antiplatelet therapy in patients undergoing CABG, cognitive and neurologic outcomes after CABG, using IV beta-adrenergic agonists
during acute respiratory distress syndrome, and pulmonary embolism risk in those admitted to the hospital for an auto-immune disorder.

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January 17th, 2012

Cangrelor Proposed as Bridge to Surgery

Larry Husten, PHD

As a potent and reversible platelet inhibitor, cangrelor has been proposed for use in a bridging strategy for patients scheduled for surgery who are currently taking clopidogrel or another thienopyridine. To test this strategy, the BRIDGE investigators randomized 210 ACS or stent patients awaiting CABG and taking a thienopyridine to receive either cangrelor or placebo for at […]

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January 17th, 2012

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Weekly Review: Week of January 16th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include acute MI and potassium levels, cardiac arrest during long-distance running, the anticoagulant idrabiotaparinux, and managing hypertension in the very elderly.

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January 12th, 2012

The Safety of the Long Distance Runner

Larry Husten, PHD

Long distance runners may be lonely but they are not at high risk for sudden cardiac arrest, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The RACER (Race Associated Cardiac Arrest Event Registry) investigators analyzed data from 10.9 million registered participants in marathons and half-marathons that took place in the U.S. during the first decade of this […]

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January 12th, 2012

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Weekly Review: Week of January 9th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics: bariatric surgery, length of stay and MI, secondary prevention after ACS, and vorapaxar

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January 11th, 2012

Director of UConn CV Research Center Accused of Scientific Misconduct

Larry Husten, PHD

Following an extensive investigation, Dipak Das, a professor in the Department of Surgery and director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center, has been accused of serious scientific misconduct. UConn has informed 11 scientific journals about the investigation. Das had numerous publications on resveratrol and other nutrition-related cardiovascular subjects. According to […]

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