CardioExchange Archive

February 28th, 2012

FDA Revises the Safety Labeling of Statins

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA today announced important new changes to the safety language on the labels of statins: Routine periodic monitoring of liver enzymes is no longer recommended. Serious liver injury associated with statins is “rare and unpredictable in individual patients” and “routine periodic monitoring of liver enzymes does not appear to be effective in detecting or preventing this rare side […]

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February 24th, 2012

A Call for Help to Reduce Readmissions

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

The national focus on readmissions (e.g., Partnership for Patients) has yet to yield improvements in performance. Many clinicians and hospitals are seeking help in their efforts to reduce readmission rates. Hospital to Home, a national quality improvement initiative led by the American College of Cardiology and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, has posted a list of […]

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February 23rd, 2012

FDA Advisory Panel Gives Green Light to Qnexa Diet Pill

Larry Husten, PHD

Breaking a long streak of bad news for diet drugs, an FDA advisory panel on Wednesday voted 20-2 in favor of approval for Qnexa, the combination of  phentermine and topiramate under development by Vivus. Panel members strongly suggested that Vivus be required to perform a cardiovascular outcomes trial, though it was not immediately clear if this […]

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February 21st, 2012

More Rigorous Assessment of Family History Improves CV Risk Determination

Larry Husten, PHD

Although family history has long been recognized as an important cardiovascular risk factor, usual methods to assess risk have not incorporated family history in a rigorous manner. A new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds that systematically collecting family history in a primary practice setting significantly increases the identification of high-risk people. Nadeem Qureshi and […]

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February 15th, 2012

AHA Scientific Statement Spotlights Peripheral Artery Disease in Women

Larry Husten, PHD

Although peripheral artery disease (PAD) raises the risk for heart disease and stroke, it often goes undiagnosed and untreated, especially in women, according to a scientific statement issued by the American Heart Association and published in Circulation. Here are a few highlights of the statement: Although women develop PAD later than men, the total number of women with PAD […]

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February 14th, 2012

Meta-Analysis: Air Pollutants Raise Short-Term Risk for MI

Larry Husten, PHD

Air pollution significantly raises the short-term, 7-day risk for MI, according to a new meta-analysis published in JAMA. Hazrije Mustafic and colleagues analyzed data from 34 studies and found a significant increase in the relative risk (RR) for MI with all the main air pollutants except ozone: carbon monoxide: RR 1.048, CI 1.026-1.070 nitrogen dioxide: 1.011, 1.006-1.016 […]

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February 13th, 2012

Heart and Stroke Foundation’s “Make Death Wait” Campaign: Advocacy or Scare Tactics?

Marilyn Mann, J.D.

A member wants to know what our readers think of two Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSF) ads. Are they a legitimate way to “wake up” people to the threat of cardiovascular disease? Or unnecessary and counterproductive scare tactics?

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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 more […]

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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 genetic […]

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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 be […]

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