CardioExchange Archive

September 3rd, 2013

Study Fails to Support Broader Patient Population for Cardiac-Resynchronization Therapy

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study from the Echo-CRT study group shows that CRT is not beneficial in patients with HF and a narrow QRS complex and may even be harmful.

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September 2nd, 2013

Automatic Wireless Monitoring Shows Benefits in Chronic Heart Failure

Larry Husten, PHD

The In-Time trial is the first to show that home monitoring of HF patients may be beneficial.

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August 28th, 2013

New Drug Found Safe and Effective in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension — But Does It Save Lives?

Larry Husten, PHD

Macitentan, a new drug for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), appears to be safe and effective, but it is unclear whether it offers any significant advantages over currently available drugs.  The drug, a dual endothelin-receptor antagonist, is under development from Actelion as an enhanced version of bosentan (Tracleer). The results of a phase 3 trial, SERAPHIN (Study with an Endothelin […]

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August 28th, 2013

American Heart Association Announces Late-Breaking Clinical Trials

Larry Husten, PHD

There are still a few days left in August, and the European Society of Cardiology meeting doesn’t start until this weekend in Amsterdam. Nevertheless, the American Heart Association has released the list of late-breaking clinical trials for its annual meeting in November. Late-Breaking Clinical Trials 1: Acute Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Care Sunday, Nov 17, 2013, 4:00 PM – 5:19 PM […]

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August 18th, 2013

What Patterns of Change in the Use of Nesiritide Reveal About Hospitals as Learning Organizations

Chohreh Partovian, MD, PhD

Chohreh Partovian discusses her research group’s study of how hospitals varied in their responses to safety concerns about nesiritide from 2005 to 2010.

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August 13th, 2013

Observational Study Lends Support to CRT Guidelines

Larry Husten, PHD

A large observational study published in JAMA suggests that patients with left bundle-branch block (LBBB) and longer QRS duration derive the most benefit from a cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D). The findings appear to support current, but often criticized, guidelines from the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and the Heart Rhythm Society, in which a class I […]

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August 7th, 2013

FDA Panel Recommends Approval of New Pulmonary Hypertension Drug

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA’s Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee recommended approval for Bayer’s new pulmonary hypertension drug, riociguat. The committee voted 11-0 in favor of approving the drug for two forms of pulmonary hypertension: pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTPH). Bayer proposed an initial dose of 1 mg three times daily and a maximum dose of 2.5 […]

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August 5th, 2013

Putting the 2013 Heart Failure Guidelines Into Practice

Clyde Yancy, MD, Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM and John Ryan, MD

CardioExchange’s Harlan Krumholz and John Ryan interview Clyde W. Yancy, lead member of the ACCF/AHA task force that wrote the 2013 guidelines for management of heart failure. Krumholz and Ryan: What is the biggest challenge to implementing the heart failure guidelines for every patient with heart failure? Yancy: The biggest challenge is no longer in establishing “proof.” […]

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August 5th, 2013

Faint PRAISE: 13-Year Delay in Publication of a Major Clinical Trial Sparks Criticism

Larry Husten, PHD

Thirteen years after first being presented, the results of the PRAISE-2 trial finally have been published in JACC: Heart Failure. The trial itself is now largely irrelevant to current clinical practice, as the hypothesis it tested has long been abandoned, but the long delay in publication may serve to bring even more awareness to the issue […]

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July 29th, 2013

Sex and the Cardiac Patient Should Not be a Taboo Subject

Larry Husten, PHD

It’s not an easy conversation to have. After a heart attack or other major cardiac event, talking about sex is awkward, and often avoided by patients, their partners, and physicians. But a new consensus statement from several major cardiology organizations urges physicians to get over their reluctance or embarrassment and counsel their cardiac patients about […]

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