CardioExchange Archive

October 10th, 2013

CardioMEMS Heart Failure Device Gets Mixed Reception From FDA Advisory Panel

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA’s Circulatory System Devices Panel sent a mixed message to the FDA today about the CardioMEMS Champion HF Pressure Measurement System.  The small implantable device provides daily pulmonary artery pressure measurements to guide physicians in their treatment of patients with congestive heart failure. In December 2011 the same panel voted 9-1 that the device was safe, 7-3 that the […]

---

October 10th, 2013

How Well Do Standard ECG Criteria Detect RV Hypertrophy?

Isaac Russell Whitman, MD

Isaac Whitman and Steven Kawut discuss their study of the sensitivity and specificity of electrocardiographic criteria in screening for MRI-detected right ventricular hypertrophy in patients without clinical cardiovascular disease.

---

October 9th, 2013

New Drug for Pulmonary Hypertension Approved by FDA

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA approved on Tuesday a new drug for pulmonary hypertension. Bayer HealthCare’s riociguat (brand name Adempas) was approved for two indications: the treatment of adults with persistent/recurrent chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) after surgical treatment or inoperable CTEPH to improve exercise capacity and WHO functional class the treatment of adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) to improve […]

---

September 30th, 2013

Nesiritide Does Not Increase Diuresis in ADHF Patients

Stephen Gottlieb, MD

Stephen Gottlieb discusses his research group’s analysis of ASCEND-HF data, which shows that nesiritide does not increase urine output in patients with ADHF.

---

September 27th, 2013

Higher Physician Volume Leads to Lower Mortality in HF

Karen Joynt, MD, MPH

Karen Joynt discusses her research group’s study of the relationship between physician volume, clinical outcomes, and costs among patients with HF.

---

September 24th, 2013

Study Raises Questions About Digoxin Use Today

Larry Husten, PHD

Digoxin is one of the oldest medicines in the cardiovascular arsenal. When William Withering identified it as the active ingredient in the foxglove plant more than 200 years ago, he was only codifying a longstanding folk remedy for heart failure, or “dropsy” as it was known then. Digoxin fully entered the modern era with the publication […]

---

September 11th, 2013

A New Standard For Pulmonary Hypertension Trials

John Ryan, MD

Recently the New England Journal of Medicine published the SERAPHIN trial studying the effects of macitentan, a new endothelin receptor antagonist, in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This was a well-conducted study in 742 patients with PAH randomized to placebo, a low dose of macitentan (3mg once a day) and a high dose of macitentan (10mg once […]

---

September 4th, 2013

Same Disease, Different Tools

Amanda Ruth Vest, MBBS

The standard pharmacological heart-failure treatment may not have changed much in the U.S. recently, but this fellow discovers different approaches in Europe and some potential new drugs on the horizon.

---

September 3rd, 2013

Echo CRT Trial – Going Narrow Doesn’t Broaden CRT Population

Edward J. Schloss, MD

A once promising indication for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in selected heart failure patients with narrow QRS intervals has suffered a major blow with the premature termination of the Biotronik sponsored multicenter EchoCRT trial.

---

September 3rd, 2013

For CRT, Let ECG — Not Echo — Be Your Guide

Clyde Yancy, MD and John Ryan, MD

Clyde Yancy, coauthor of the NEJM editorial about the EchoCRT Study Group’s randomized trial of echocardiography-guided CRT, provides further insights about the findings.

---