CardioExchange Archive

September 18th, 2013

Younger Women with ACS Less Likely to Have Chest Pain

Larry Husten, PHD

Younger women with an acute coronary syndrome are slightly less likely than men to present with the classic symptom of chest pain, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. In recent years there has been a growing understanding that women with ACS are less likely to have chest pain and, partly as a result, […]

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September 4th, 2013

Too Much Emphasis on Door-to-Balloon Time?

Larry Husten, PHD

One of the great medical advances in recent years has been the improved treatment of acute myocardial infarction. As the enormous benefits of earlier reperfusion became evident, medical systems in many parts of the world aimed to treat increasing numbers of patients in a shorter time frame. The door-to-balloon (D2B) time as a performance measure […]

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September 1st, 2013

Pretreatment with Prasugrel Not Indicated in NSTEMI

Larry Husten, PHD

Pretreatment prasugrel for NSTEMI was not effective in the ACCOAST trial.

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May 17th, 2013

Instagram for Heart Attacks: iPhone App Speeds ECG Transmission to Hospital

Larry Husten, PHD

In the crucial early stages of a possible myocardial infarction (MI), EMTs on the scene now rely on slow and unreliable proprietary technology to transmit vital ECG data to physicians at a hospital for evaluation. But a new iPhone app using standard cell phone networks may help speed the process and, ultimately, cut delays in […]

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March 26th, 2013

Controversial NIH Chelation Trial Published in JAMA

Larry Husten, PHD

Final results of the troubled NIH-sponsored Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) testing chelation therapy for coronary disease have now been published in JAMA. Last November, when the preliminary results were presented at the American Heart Association meeting, the positive finding in favor of chelation therapy surprised many observers, though the investigators and senior AHA representatives expressed considerable caution […]

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March 10th, 2013

Eplerenone May Help Prevent Heart Failure in Acute STEMI Patients

Larry Husten, PHD

For more of our ACC.13 coverage of late-breaking clinical trials, interviews with the authors of the most important research, and blogs from our fellows on the most interesting presentations at the meeting, check out our Coverage Headquarters. A new trial presented at the ACC in San Francisco suggests that the mineralocorticoid-receptor antagonist eplerenone (Pfizer, Inspra) may […]

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March 10th, 2013

Fibrinolysis May Benefit Late-Arriving STEMI Patients

Larry Husten, PHD

For more of our ACC.13 coverage of late-breaking clinical trials, interviews with the authors of the most important research, and blogs from our fellows on the most interesting presentations at the meeting, check out our Coverage Headquarters. Although primary PCI has emerged as the best treatment for STEMI, most patients don’t receive this treatment within the […]

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March 4th, 2013

Veterans Study Finds HIV to Be an Independent Risk Factor for MI

Larry Husten, PHD

Although it has long been suspected that people with the HIV virus are at increased risk for cardiovascular (CV) disease, reliable data has not been available. Now a new study published online in JAMA Internal Medicine provides a much clearer picture of the relationship between CV disease and HIV. Matthew Freiberg and colleagues analyzed data from 82,459 HIV-positive and matched […]

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January 7th, 2013

After Hurricane Katrina, Timing of Heart Attacks Shifted in New Orleans

Larry Husten, PHD

Prior to Hurricane Katrina, myocardial infarctions (MIs) in New Orleans followed a well-known circadian and septadian (today’s word of the day, meaning day of the week) pattern, with predictable increases on Mondays and in the morning hours. Now a new study from the American Journal of Cardiology finds that the notorious 2005 hurricane dramatically altered that pattern […]

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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 […]

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