CardioExchange Archive

July 22nd, 2013

Studies Raise Questions About Echocardiography

Larry Husten, PHD

Echocardiography is a safe, noninvasive tool to image the heart without the use of radiation. For this reason it has become the most frequently used method to look at the heart for a wide variety of medical indications. Now two new studies suggest that, despite its popularity, transthoracic echocardiography is often not beneficial. One study […]

---

April 5th, 2013

Cardio-Oncology: Who Needs It?

John Ryan, MD

Our panel sketches out the scope of this growing discipline.

---

February 21st, 2013

Study Casts Doubt on Value of Genetic Testing for Familial Hypercholesterolemia

Larry Husten, PHD

The recent introduction of two drugs specifically targeted to treat people with the rare but dangerous condition of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) has caused increased interest in figuring out the best strategy to identify people with the disorder. Now a new study published online in the Lancet suggests that one of the main screening plans that relies on genetic […]

---

October 4th, 2012

U.K. Study Casts Doubts on Value of Type 2 Diabetes Screening

Larry Husten, PHD

The dramatic growth in type 2 diabetes has resulted in increased interest in screening programs. Now a new study published in the Lancet raises concerns that screening programs may not result in long-term improvement in outcomes. In the ADDITION-Cambridge study, investigators in the U.K. randomized general practices to either screening or no screening.  The practices allocated to screening were […]

---

July 30th, 2012

USPSTF Maintains Recommendation Against ECG Screening of Asymptomatic, Low-Risk Adults

Larry Husten, PHD

The  U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has reaffirmed its 2004 recommendation against ECG screening for asymptomatic adults who are already at low risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). The task force also concluded that there was insufficient evidence to assess the risks and benefits of ECG screening in asymptomatic people at intermediate or high risk for […]

---

May 2nd, 2012

Half the News That’s Fit To Print: NY Times on ECG Screening for Student Athletes

Larry Husten, PHD

A “dizzy” New York Times article exploring whether to screen young athletes for heart risk leaves out relevant research and exaggerates some pretty important numbers.

---

February 13th, 2012

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Weekly Review: Week of February 13th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include communicating with patients about screening and treatment and the association between blood-pressure-lowering drugs and gout.

---

August 22nd, 2011

CNN, ABC, and NBC Dumb Down the News About CV Screening

Larry Husten, PHD

An analysis of recent health news coverage in the mainstream media: “Exit complexity. Enter stupidity.”

---

June 25th, 2011

Limited Benefit Found for Early Aggressive Management of Diabetes

Larry Husten, PHD

In the ADDITION-Europe trial, 3055 patients without diabetes were randomized to either routine care or screening followed by intensive treatment of multiple risk factors. The results were presented at the American Diabetes Association meeting and published online in the Lancet. After five years, cardiovascular risk factors — HbA1c, lipids, and blood pressure — were “slightly but significantly better in the […]

---

June 22nd, 2011

JAMA: Skeptical Perspectives on Consumer Cardiac Tests and Vitamin D

Larry Husten, PHD

Two commentaries published in JAMA offer skeptical perspectives on the roles of direct-to-consumer (DTC) cardiac tests and vitamin D in cardiovascular health. In the first commentary, Kimberly Lovett and Bryan Liang write that DTC screening tests “likely pose more risk than benefit to patients,” and point out that for companies selling these tests there is no requirement […]

---