CardioExchange Archive

July 7th, 2014

Statins Are a Mess: We Need Better Data, and Shared Decision Making

Ben Goldacre, MB, BS, BA, MA, MBBS, MSc

The following open letter was originally published on The British Medical Journal‘s editorial page regarding the adverse effects of statins for patients with low risk of cardiovascular disease. It was written in response to an analysis by Abramson et al, and more information on the subject can be found here. I have two observations to […]

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January 3rd, 2014

2013: The Year of the Guideline

John W McEvoy, MB BCh BAO

John (Bill) McEvoy looks back at 2013’s guidelines and shares his thoughts on what is needed going forward and his hopes for how we’ll use guidelines in the future.

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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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January 4th, 2011

Study Suggests Large Proportion of ICD Implantations Lack Firm Evidence Base

John Spertus, MD, MPH

Study Summary by Larry Husten: An analysis in JAMA of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) shows that a substantial proportion of ICD implantations are not supported by a firm evidence base. Sana Al-Khatib and colleagues examined data from 117,707 patients who received ICDs between January 1, 2006 and June 30, 2009, and found that […]

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