CardioExchange Archive

March 30th, 2014

High-Sensitivity Troponin Test Could Identify Low-Risk Chest Pain Patients in the ED

Larry Husten, PHD

Approximately 15-20 million people in Europe and the United States go to the emergency department every year with chest pain. Many can be discharged early if they are not having an acute coronary syndrome. A large, new, single-center observational study, presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Washington, DC and published simultaneously in the Journal […]

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September 4th, 2013

New Dual Biomarker Test Could Speed Rule-Out of MI in the ED

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study suggests that patients with suspected ACS and negative troponin and copeptin results at admission can safely be discharged if the clinical assessment is consistent with that decision.

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April 29th, 2013

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: April 29th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include the association of perioperative beta-blockade with mortality and CV morbidity following major noncardiac surgery, intestinal microbial metabolism of phosphatidylcholine and CV risk, and more.

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March 25th, 2013

Emerging Biomarkers: How Reliable Is the Evidence?

Larry Husten, PHD

Novel biomarkers are the subject of intense controversy, with a bewildering variety of factions and perspectives seeking to elevate or dismiss any of a large number of proposed new measures. Now a new examination of the literature published online in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that the evidence base used to evaluate novel biomarkers may be seriously compromised by selective reporting bias. […]

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May 29th, 2012

Two-Hour ADP Can Safely and Rapidly Discharge Low-Risk Patients

Martin Than, MBBS, John Ryan, MD and James De Lemos, MD

John Ryan, Martin Than, and James de Lemos discuss Martin’s new study, which examines the use of an accelerated 2-hour diagnostic protocol to determine which patients with chest pain in the ED are low-risk and can be discharged early.

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May 16th, 2012

Changes in Air Pollution During Beijing Olympics Tied to Inflammatory Biomarkers

Nicholas Downing, MD

Reductions in air pollution during the Beijing Olympics were associated with decreases in certain biomarkers of inflammation and thrombosis in healthy young adults, according to a JAMA study. Researchers measured levels of air pollutants in 2-week periods before, during, and after the Olympics, and also measured blood levels of cardiovascular disease biomarkers in 125 healthy medical […]

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December 27th, 2011

Possible Role for New Troponin Test to Diagnose MI

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study from Germany provides evidence that a new high-sensitive troponin I (hsTnI) assay may improve and speed the early diagnosis of acute MI. In an article published in JAMA, Till Keller and colleagues report on 1818 patients with acute chest pain in whom numerous biomarker tests were conducted at admission and at 3 and […]

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October 17th, 2011

National Lipid Association Responds to Coverage of Its Statement on Biomarkers

Christopher Seymour, MBA

Editor’s Note: This contribution from Christopher R. Seymour, Executive Director of the National Lipid Association, is a response to Larry Husten’s October 13 blog post titled “National Lipid Association Expert Panel Has Many Deep Ties to Industry.” On behalf of the National Lipid Association (NLA), I want to address your inquiry regarding the paper titled “Clinical […]

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June 10th, 2011

A New Biomarker From the Lungs

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study raises the possibility that a protein produced in the lungs may improve the prediction of cardiovascular disease. In a paper in the European Journal of Cardiology, John Hill and colleagues report on their research with surfactant protein-D (SP-D). Produced in the lungs, SP-D levels increase in the general circulation following lung injury […]

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May 31st, 2011

Biomarkers: Don’t Believe the Hype

Larry Husten, PHD

Watch out for hype when examining the biomarker literature, a new study published in JAMA suggests. John Ioannidis and Orestis Panagiotou first searched the literature and identified highly cited studies of biomarkers that included a relative risk calculation of effect size on a particular outcome. Most of the 35 studies reported cancer- or cardiovascular-related outcomes. […]

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