November 12th, 2013
After Long Wait, Updated U.S. Cardiovascular Guidelines Now Emphasize Risk Instead of Targets
Larry Husten, PHD
Updated cardiovascular health guidelines were released today by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC). The guidelines are designed to provide primary care physicians with evidence-based expert guidance on cholesterol, obesity, risk assessment, and healthy lifestyle. The new guidelines reinforce many of the same messages from previous guidelines, but also represent […]
August 13th, 2013
Observational Study Lends Support to CRT Guidelines
Larry Husten, PHD
A large observational study published in JAMA suggests that patients with left bundle-branch block (LBBB) and longer QRS duration derive the most benefit from a cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D). The findings appear to support current, but often criticized, guidelines from the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and the Heart Rhythm Society, in which a class I […]
August 9th, 2013
The Guidelines are Dead. Long Live the Guidelines.
Larry Husten, PHD
Following the recent surprising announcement that the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute would no longer issue guidelines, leaders of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) have now announced that are “officially assuming the joint governance, management and public distribution” of the enormously influential cardiovascular prevention guidelines, including the much-delayed and much-anticipated hypertension […]
July 31st, 2013
European Heart Guidelines Based on Disgraced Research May Have Caused Thousands of Deaths
Larry Husten, PHD
Despite a 2-year-old scandal discrediting key evidence, current guidelines relying on this evidence have not been revised. As a result of physicians following these guidelines, some researchers say, it is possible that thousands of patients may have died each year in the U.K. alone. It is unlikely that a true understanding of the damage will […]
July 29th, 2013
Sex and the Cardiac Patient Should Not be a Taboo Subject
Larry Husten, PHD
It’s not an easy conversation to have. After a heart attack or other major cardiac event, talking about sex is awkward, and often avoided by patients, their partners, and physicians. But a new consensus statement from several major cardiology organizations urges physicians to get over their reluctance or embarrassment and counsel their cardiac patients about […]
June 20th, 2013
Hypertension and Cholesterol Guidelines Delayed Again as NHLBI Gets Out of the Guidelines Business
Larry Husten, PHD
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) will no longer issue guidelines, including the much-delayed and much-anticipated hypertension (JNC 8) and cholesterol (ATP 4) guidelines. Instead, the NHLBI will perform systematic evidence reviews that other organizations, including the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, will use as a resource for their own guidelines. The […]
June 14th, 2013
New European Hypertension Guidelines Released with Simplified Blood Pressure Target
Larry Husten, PHD
New hypertension guidelines from the European Society of Hypertension and the European Society of Cardiology were released in Milan today at the European Meeting on Hypertension & Cardiovascular Protection. The authors of the guidelines write that “despite overwhelming evidence that hypertension is a major cardiovascular risk, studies show that many are still unaware of the condition, that […]
March 1st, 2013
ACC and HRS Release Appropriate Use Criteria for ICDs and CRTs
Larry Husten, PHD
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) today published appropriate use criteria for implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). The document offers an expert consensus on the appropriateness of 369 separate real-life clinical scenarios in six areas: ICDs for secondary prevention, ICDs for primary prevention, comorbidities, CRT devices, generator replacement, […]
February 7th, 2013
Arms and the Interventionalist
Megan Coylewright, MD MPH, Michael Tempelhof, MD MSc, Micah Eimer, MD, L. David Hillis, MD, Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and John Ryan, MD
According to an ESC consensus document published last week, radial artery access should be the “default” choice for PCI. CardioExchange’s John Ryan interviewed cardiologists and interventional cardiologists at different stages of their careers to find out how they view radial artery catheterization, and if the views differ among interventional fellows, faculty, and those in leadership roles. Dr. […]
December 17th, 2012
New Guidelines Define State-of-the-Art STEMI Care
Larry Husten, PHD
New guidelines published online today in Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology provide an efficient overview of the best treatments for STEMI patients. (Available for download are PDFs of the full version [64 pages] or the executive summary [27 pages] of the 2013 ACCF/AHA Guideline for the Management of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction.) “We’re looking to a future where more patients […]
NEJM Journal Watch — Recent Cardiology Articles- Sex-Based Disparity in CABG Outcomes: Are We Moving Toward Parity?
- Can Genetic and Social Risk Scores Improve Cardiac Risk Prediction?
- Extensive Ablation vs. Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Persistent Atrial Fibrillation
- Can a Novel Stent Design Improve Long-Term Outcomes of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention?
- Are Angiographically-Derived Coronary Physiology Measurements Ready for Use in the Cath Lab?