March 25th, 2013
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: March 25th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include the effect of aliskiren on postdischarge mortality and readmissions among those hospitalized for HF, PFO closure, and more.
March 20th, 2013
Controversial PFO Closure Trials Published in NEJM
Larry Husten, PHD
Two controversial trials testing PFO closure in patients with cryptogenic stroke missed their primary endpoints but contained suggestions of possible benefit.
November 20th, 2012
PFO Occluder Devices Don’t Get No RESPECT
L. David Hillis, MD
David Hillis invokes Rodney Dangerfield in considering the findings of a recent trial of a PFO closure device.
October 25th, 2012
TCT: Two PFO Closure Trials Miss Primary Endpoints
Larry Husten, PHD
Two trials presented today at the TCT meeting in Miami testing the benefits of PFO closure in patients with cryptogenic stroke have failed to convincingly demonstrate any significant benefit for the controversial procedure. The RESPECT (Randomized Evaluation of Recurrent Stroke Comparing PFO Closure to Established Current Standard of Care Treatment) trial randomized 980 patients to PFO closure with the […]
July 24th, 2012
St. Jude Spills the Beans on PFO Closure Trial
Larry Husten, PHD
Larry Husten asks readers to assess the ethical dimensions of St. Jude’s recent statements about the RESPECT trial.
May 6th, 2012
Patent Foramen Ovale — Are the Choices Patently Obvious?
Shelby Kutty, MD and John Ryan, MD
Shelby Kutty explains what we know and what we don’t know about how to manage patients with a PFO.
March 19th, 2012
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: Week of March 19th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include percutaneous PFO closure and dabigatran risks.
March 14th, 2012
Achieving CLOSURE: Final Act of PFO Closure Device Trial
Larry Husten, PHD
Nine years after getting underway, results of the CLOSURE 1 trial of PFO closure for cryptogenic stroke are finally published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
March 14th, 2012
The $800 Million Gamble: Jumping Aboard or Jumping the Gun?
Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and L. David Hillis, MD
In the CLOSURE I trial (Evaluation of the STARFlex Septal Closure System in Patients with a Stroke and/or Transient Ischemic Attack Due to a Presumed Paradoxical Embolism through a Patent Foramen Ovale), 909 patients with a PFO who had a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA) of unclear etiology were randomly assigned to device […]
November 15th, 2010
Let’s Bring CLOSURE to This Debate About PFO Treatment
Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA
In this blog, Rick Lange tells us how he would answer FAQs about PFO closure to prevent stroke. The controversy: Based on retrospective and nonrandomized studies, many physicians are convinced that percutaneous patent foramen ovale closure can reduce rates of cryptogenic stroke and transient ischemic attack. Although PFO closure devices are approved for stroke prevention in Europe […]
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