CardioExchange Archive

October 3rd, 2012

What Is the Benefit of Adding CRP to Risk Factor Assessment?

Larry Husten, PHD

In recent years, controversy has swirled around the role of inflammation in cardiovascular disease and the relative worth of measuring novel risk factors like C-reactive protein (CRP). Now, in a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration provide detailed calculations that estimate the benefits of adding inflammatory markers to […]

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July 21st, 2011

Carotid IMT Provides Modest Improvement to Risk Prediction

Larry Husten, PHD

Measurement of the maximum intima–media thickness (IMT) of the internal carotid artery (CA) can modestly improve cardiovascular risk prediction, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Joseph Polak and colleagues measured the mean IMT of the common CA and the maximum IMT of the internal CA of 2965 subjects […]

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November 13th, 2010

Study Explores Role of Familial AF in Risk of Developing New AF

Larry Husten, PHD

Although it is well known that there is a heritable component to atrial fibrillation (AF), the precise clinical significance of familial AF has been unclear. Steven Lubitz and colleagues analyzed data from the Framingham Heart Study to assess the incremental predictive value of familial AF in a risk model for new-onset AF. In a presentation at the […]

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August 2nd, 2010

Framingham: Cardiac Function Linked to Brain Aging

Larry Husten, PHD

Brain age is closely associated with cardiac function, according to a new report in Circulation from the Framingham Heart Study. Angela Jefferson and colleagues collected brain MRI, cardiac MRI, neuropsychological, and laboratory data on 1504 participants in the Framingham Offspring Cohort and found a significant association between neuropsychological and brain MRI variables and cardiac index […]

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