CardioExchange Archive

September 5th, 2014

Perspectives on PARADIGM-HF

CardioExchange Editors, Staff

The Editors present a distillation of reader comments on a popular post.

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September 1st, 2014

Let’s Take a Close Look at PARADIGM-HF

Vinay Prasad, MD MPH

Vinay Prasad explores three reasons why clinicians should have reservations about the findings from PARADIGM-HF.

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November 18th, 2013

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: November 18th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include the VA-NEPHRON-D and IABP-SHOCK II trials, a study of the sex differences in ACS symptoms among young patients, and more.

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October 22nd, 2013

No Support for Broad Screening of Chronic Kidney Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

Although taught in  medical school and widely used in clinical practice, broad screening of otherwise healthy people for chronic kidney disease (CKD) is unwarranted, according to new recommendations from the American College of Physicians published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. People with early kidney disease, who are classified as having stages 1 to 3 CKD, usually […]

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July 4th, 2013

FDA: Olmesartan Can Cause Sprue-Like Enteropathy

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA is warning that the angiotensin II receptor blocker olmesartan (marketed as Benicar, Benicar HCT, Azor, Tribenzor, and generics) may cause severe diarrhea. According to an FDA safety announcement, olmesartan “can cause intestinal problems known as sprue-like enteropathy. Symptoms of sprue-like enteropathy include severe, chronic diarrhea with substantial weight loss.” The warning is being added […]

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May 31st, 2013

Two FDA Officials Quarrel Over Safety of Angiotensin-Receptor Blockers

Larry Husten, PHD

Two FDA officials are quarreling in public about their different views about the safety of angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), according to a story by Thomas Burton in Friday’s Wall Street Journal. One official, Thomas Marciniak, contends that ARBs may increase the risk for cancer. Marciniak has been a vocal critic of FDA’s efforts to assess drug  safety. In the […]

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January 10th, 2013

Acute Kidney Injury Associated With Dual Antihypertensive Therapy And NSAIDs

Larry Husten, PHD

NSAIDs seem to increase the risks for acute kidney injury when taken along with antihypertensive therapy consisting of a diuretic plus an ACE inhibitior or an ARB.

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July 3rd, 2012

Many CHF Patients Not Receiving – Or Getting Benefits From – High Dose ACE Inhibitors and ARBs

Larry Husten, PHD

Although current guidelines recommend that ACE inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) be used in high doses in patients with congestive heart failure, many CHF patients currently receive lower than recommended doses of these drugs. In a research letter published online in Archives of Internal Medicine, investigators in Montreal analyzed data from 43,405 patients with a first hospital […]

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April 18th, 2012

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: Week of April 16th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include an “awful question” about statin therapy, coronary computed tomographic angiography in the ED, vorapraxar for secondary prevention, and stent wars.

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April 11th, 2012

Study Evaluates Losartan Efficacy in Heart Failure

Larry Husten, PHD

The angiotensin II-receptor blocker (ARB) losartan has labored under the perception that it is not as potent as other ARBs, and some evidence has suggested that it may not confer the same clinical benefits as other ARBs in heart failure patients. In a paper from Denmark published in JAMA, Henrik Svanström and colleagues performed a country-wide registry study […]

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