February 8th, 2010
Monday February 8 News Roundup: Zero Calcium Score; AHA/ACC Scientific Statement on TdP; Warning on Boston Scientific ICDs
Larry Husten, PHD
What Does a Zero Calcium Score Mean? In a high risk group scheduled for angiography, having a zero calcium score does not mean a zero chance of coronary disease. In a paper appearing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Gottlieb and colleagues obtained calcium scores from 291 patients scheduled for angiography and […]
February 7th, 2010
Tackling Tobacco Cessation
Joseph S. Ross, MD, MHS
Last week, I posted a Voices blog detailing my concerns about a recent randomized controlled trial of varenicline that, in my opinion, was just another weak safety study. Absent from that post was a discussion of varenicline’s effectiveness, which was significant. At 12 weeks, 47% of varenicline users had been continuously abstinent, versus 14% of […]
February 5th, 2010
Friday February 5 News Roundup: PPIs & Clopidogrel; Aspirin Underuse and Overuse; New AF Ablation Trial
Larry Husten, PHD
PPIs & Clopidogrel– A retrospective analysis of 820 patients at the Washington Hospital Center who received clopidogrel after a drug-eluting stent implantation found more adverse events at one year among those who were also taking a proton pump inhibitor. The report by Gaglie et al appears online in the American Journal of Cardiology.Aspirin Underuse and […]
February 4th, 2010
Thursday, February 4 News Roundup: Weight Loss at High Altitude, Large VTE Prevention Trial Initiated
Larry Husten, PHD
Weight Loss at High Altitude: Obese people lose weight at high altitudes, according to a new study in Obesity. Lippl et al. studied 20 obese patients before and after a 1-week stay at high altitude. Patients weighed less and had a higher metabolic rate after the high-altitude stay. The authors concluded that “hypobaric hypoxia seems to play […]
February 3rd, 2010
Wednesday, February 3 News Roundup: Endovascular Aortic Repair, Nebivolol Transcript
Larry Husten, PHD
Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair: The use of thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) over open surgery to treat descending thoracic aortic disease has grown in recent years, despite a complete absence of randomized comparisons. In an expedited publication in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Cheng and colleagues report on a large systematic review and […]
February 2nd, 2010
Tuesday February 2 News Roundup: Salt Defended, Laser Lead Extractions, AF Ablation Live on TV
Larry Husten, PHD
A Different View on Salt: In the face of popular proposals to cut dietary salt, Michael Alderman, in a JAMA Commentary, points to the paucity of randomized trials proving the benefits of sodium reductions. “Rarely, smoking excepted, do observational studies by repeated, robust, and consistently positive findings justify a public health recommendation.” Alderman proposes “a […]
February 1st, 2010
Monday February 1 News Update: Stent Comparison, Herbal Products, Prostate Cancer Therapy
Larry Husten, PHD
ENDEAVOR IV: One-year results of the ENDEAVOR IV trial comparing zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZES) and paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) have been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Martin Leon et al conclude that ZES “has improved periprocedural safety, similar 12-month clinical safety and efficacy outcomes, and despite more frequent angiographic restenosis, similar clinical […]