March 9th, 2010
Tuesday, March 9 News Roundup: Clopidogrel After DES, Obama’s Calcium Scan
Larry Husten, PHD
Clopidogrel After DES: In a retrospective analysis of more than 9,000 patients who received a drug-eluting stent, Petersen et al. found that at 12 months, high use of clopidogrel was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of death or nonfatal MI but at the cost of more bleeding. Low use of clopidogrel was […]
March 9th, 2010
Monday, March 8 News: What is the “Warranty” for Zero Calcium?
Larry Husten, PHD
Zero Calcium: What is the “warranty period” for a zero calcium score? Min et al. studied 422 people who had a normal calcium scan (CAC=0) and who then received annual screens. One quarter of the patients had a subsequent calcium score >0 within 5 years, according to the report in the Journal of the American […]
March 8th, 2010
Cardiology in the Big Tent
Helping our fellows make the most of a national meeting
James De Lemos, MD
Click here to see this blog, originally posted on December 2, 2009.
March 4th, 2010
Thursday, March 4 News: Apixaban Advances
Larry Husten, PHD
Apixaban, a new factor Xa inhibitor under development, was compared with enoxaparin for thromboprophylaxis following knee replacement surgery in the ADVANCE-2 trial. The new report appears in the Lancet. In the primary efficacy analysis, the primary outcome — the composite of asymptomatic and symptomatic deep vein thrombosis, nonfatal pulmonary embolism, and all-cause death during treatment — was reached in 15% […]
March 3rd, 2010
Wednesday, March 3: Drugs for Shock Compared
Larry Husten, PHD
Norepinephrine and dopamine are both recommended as first line drugs for the treatment of shock. In a report by De Backer et al in the New England Journal of Medicine, 1,679 shock patients were enrolled in the SOAP II trial and randomized to initial vasopressor therapy with one of the drugs. At 28 days there […]
March 3rd, 2010
Rosiglitazone: When Evidence Is Inconclusive Even After FDA Approval
Sanjay Kaul, MD
We welcome Sanjay Kaul, MD, lead author of a recent American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology science advisory about the cardiovascular risks of thiazolidinedione drugs, to answer our questions about rosiglitazone. We encourage you to ask yours. You and your coauthors call the evidence on the cardiovascular risks of rosiglitazone “inconclusive.” When you prescribe a […]
March 2nd, 2010
Tuesday, March 2 News Roundup: Aspirin for Primary Prevention; ICDs and Cognitive Problems; Secondary Smoke and 13-Year-Olds
Larry Husten, PHD
Aspirin for Primary Prevention: Aspirin did not reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease in asymptomatic people with a low ankle brachial index (ABI) in the Aspirin for Asymptomatic Atherosclerosis trial. According to the report in JAMA, investigators screened nearly 30,000 men and women from Scotland and randomized 3,350 who had a low ABI to either […]
March 1st, 2010
What Should the Relationship Be Between Pharmaceutical Companies and Fellows?
Andrew M. Kates, MD
Recent publications, including a scientific advisory in Circulation on rosiglitazone, the industry response to a Senate Finance Committee’s report on the drug, as well as a commentary in Forbes by Harlan Krumholz, have made me consider further the role that pharmaceutical companies play in the context of fellowship training programs. The relationships between training programs and […]
March 1st, 2010
Monday, March 1 News Roundup: ECGs and Young Athletes; Diet and Atherosclerosis; Reducing Sodium; Vitamin D Supplements
Larry Husten, PHD
ECGs and Young Athletes: In recent years, opinion has divided over the role of ECG screening in young athletes. Two studies and an editorial in Annals of Internal Medicine shed new light on the topic. Baggish et al. found that ECGs increased the sensitivity of preparticipation cardiovascular screening, but at the cost of a higher rate of […]
March 1st, 2010
If It’s Your Carotid, Endarterectomy or Stenting?
Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA
The results from 2 carotid endarterectomy vs stenting trials are in….and they are disparate. ICSS showed worse outcome with carotid stenting (higher rates of the composite of stroke, death, and procedural MI) versus carotid endarterectomy, whereas CREST showed similar efficacy and safety for both. Interestingly, in both studies the rate of nondisabling stroke was significantly […]
NEJM — Recent Cardiology Articles- Digital Twin–Guided Ablation for Ventricular Tachycardia April 2, 2026In a 10-patient feasibility study, heart digital twins were used to guide VT ablation. Afterward, VT was noninducible in all patients; at a mean follow-up of 13 months, 8 patients were free of recurrence, without drug therapy.
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- Digital Twin–Guided Ablation for Ventricular Tachycardia April 2, 2026