CardioExchange Archive

December 3rd, 2013

Estimating Prosthesis-Patient Mismatch for Patients Undergoing Bovine Pericardial AVR

Jyothy Puthumana, MD,MS

Jyothy Puthumana discusses his research group’s Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging study, for which they compared prosthesis-patient mismatch prevalence and its impact on survival.

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December 2nd, 2013

ACP Recommends Conservative Treatment for Heart Patients with Anemia

Larry Husten, PHD

The American College of Physicians (ACP) is recommending more conservative use of transfusions and erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in anemia patients with heart disease. But the authors of the new clinical practice guidelines, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, acknowledge that the evidence base is too flimsy to support firm conclusions. “Overall,” wrote the authors, “despite the epidemiologic and […]

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November 20th, 2013

Consumption of Nuts Linked to Mortality Benefit

Larry Husten, PHD

Nut consumption has long been linked to healthy lifestyles. Now, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine extends the finding and demonstrates a strong association with improved mortality. Ying Bao and colleagues examined data from nearly 120,000 people enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study to assess the relationship of […]

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November 20th, 2013

AHA.13: Good until the End

Seth Shay Martin, MD

On the last afternoon at AHA.13, a poster on an experimental preventive treatment catches the eye of a cardiology Fellow .

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November 19th, 2013

An Insider’s Look at TACT

Gervasio Antonio Lamas, MD

TACT investigator Gervasio Lamas provides an inside look at how the TACT trial began, the controversial journey so far, and what he hopes it will accomplish.

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November 19th, 2013

TACT Substudy Suggests Possible Strong Benefit for Chelation in Diabetics

Larry Husten, PHD

One year ago the results of the TACT trial were published in JAMA, sparking an enormous controversy over the propriety of publishing a trial suggesting that chelation therapy might be beneficial in people with cardiovascular disease. Chelation therapy has long been a staple of alternative medicine, but until the publication of TACT it had received […]

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November 18th, 2013

No Evidence That Statins Impact Cognitive Function

Larry Husten, PHD

In 2012 the FDA revised the label of statins to include a warning about reports that the drugs had been linked to memory loss or confusion. The FDA action appeared to be based largely on case reports. Despite concerns about this topic that have appeared sporadically in recent years, no high-quality review of the topic has appeared until now. […]

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November 18th, 2013

Controversy Erupts Over Accuracy of Cardiovascular Risk Calculator for Guidelines

Larry Husten, PHD

In the face of a highly critical story in the New York Times by Gina Kolata about the new cardiovascular guidelines, authors of the guidelines and leaders of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) defended the value and integrity of the guidelines. The Times story claims that the cardiovascular risk calculator used to assess individual risk in the new guidelines is deeply […]

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November 18th, 2013

Cutting-Edge Lifestyle and Behavioral Interventions — Promises and Challenges at AHA.13

Siqin Ye, MD

Do the studies discussed at the second Late-Breaking Clinical Trial Session show us the way to an exciting new era in prevention?

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November 17th, 2013

The Gaps in the (Guide)Lines?

Siqin Ye, MD

A blogger at the AHA.13 wonders whether we need better algorithms for assessing CV risk in an increasingly diverse U.S. or a better understanding of how to engage our patients under conditions of uncertainty to make the best patient-centered decisions.

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