CardioExchange Archive

March 22nd, 2010

• AHA Scientific Statement on Medication Errors in Acute CV Medicine
• BNP-Guided HF Therapy

Larry Husten, PHD

AHA Scientific Statement on Medication Errors in Acute CV Medicine: “Cardiovascular medications are the most common drug class associated with medication errors, and cardiovascular patients remain at high risk in the acute hospital phase, even with the current safety strategies,” said Andrew Michaels, chair of the writing committee for a new AHA scientific statement published […]

---

March 19th, 2010

Friday March 19: FDA in the News: Warning About High Dose Simvastatin; Advisory Panel Supports Expanded Indication for CRT-Ds; Watchman Approval Delayed

Larry Husten, PHD

FDA Warns About High Dose Simvastatin– The FDA issued a drug safety communication today about an ongoing review of high dose simvastatin and increased risk of myopathy based on data from the Study of the Effectiveness of Additional Reductions in Cholesterol and Homocysteine (SEARCH) trial.FDA Panel Supports Expanded Indication for CRT-Ds– The FDA’s Circulatory System Devices Panel voted unanimously to support a […]

---

March 19th, 2010

“Doc, I’m so confused. Do I stop or continue the clopidogrel?”

Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA

A recent study suggested that clopidogrel can be discontinued 12 months after drug-eluting stent placement. What do I tell my patient who had a drug eluting stent placed a year ago?  He’s not the only one who’s confused. I’m concerned that the study was underpowered and the duration of follow-up too short to provide a firm conclusion about the appropriate […]

---

March 17th, 2010

March Madness—In the Wake of ACC, Name the Head-to-Head Match-Ups You’d Like to See

Joseph S. Ross, MD, MHS

If you work for the NIH, you’re not allowed to bet on your favorite NCAA basketball team. But here at CardioExchange, you can channel your enthusiasm into a different set of brackets. The elegant simplicity of March Madness, despite the chaos, is that we get our questions answered: “Who’s better? Syracuse or Georgetown? UCLA or […]

---

March 17th, 2010

Wednesday, March 17 News: Thoracic Aortic Disease Guidelines Released

Larry Husten, PHD

The AHA and the ACC released new practice guidelines for the management and treatment of thoracic aortic disease. Here is a press release about the guidelines. Here is the Executive Summary, with links to the full text, a slide set, and other material.

---

March 16th, 2010

Tuesday, March 16 News Roundup: Cryoballoon Ablation Trial; FDA to Review ACCORD data; Trouble for Boston Scientific and Medtronic

Larry Husten, PHD

STOP-AF: The STOP-AF trial compared a novel cryoballoon ablation technology with antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) therapy in 245 AF patients who had failed at least one AAD. Treatment success was achieved in 69.9% of cryoballoon patients versus 7.3% of AAD patients, a highly significant difference (p<0.001). Phrenic nerve palsy occurred in 13.5% of cryoballoon patients and 7.3% of […]

---

March 16th, 2010

Follow Along with Your Colleagues at the ACC, Day 3

Andrew M. Kates, MD

See previous posts (ACC Day 1 and Day 2) Several Fellows in Cardiology who are attending this week’s ACC meeting are blogging together right here. The Fellows include Shane LaRue, Justin Bachmann, Nihar Desai, Shanti Bansal, and Hansie Mathelier. Check back often to learn about the biggest buzz at the ACC — whether it’s a […]

---

March 15th, 2010

As You Navigate Diabetes Prevention, Should Valsartan Be On Board?

John McMurray, MbChB MD

We welcome John J. McMurray, MD, lead author of the NEJM article on the valsartan component of the NAVIGATOR trial, to answer our questions about this angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB). We encourage you to ask yours. Background: In the NAVIGATOR trial, 9306 patients with impaired glucose tolerance and established cardiovascular disease or CVD risk factors were […]

---

March 15th, 2010

Monday March 15 ACC News Roundup: RACE II; ZES versus SES; Optimal DAPT

Larry Husten, PHD

RACE II: Van Gelder et al. randomized 614 patients with AF to either strict rate control (resting heart rate < 80 bpm and heart rate during moderate exercise <110 bpm) or lenient rate control (resting heart rate < 80 bpm). The results were presented at the ACC in Atlanta and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of […]

---

March 15th, 2010

Follow Along with Your Colleagues at the ACC, Day 2

Andrew M. Kates, MD

See previous post (ACC Day 1) and the following one (ACC Day 3) Several Fellows in Cardiology who are attending this week’s ACC meeting are blogging together right here. The Fellows include Shane LaRue, Justin Bachmann, Nihar Desai, Shanti Bansal, and Hansie Mathelier. Check back often to learn about the biggest buzz at the ACC […]

---