May 7th, 2010
Bad News from Europe; Even Worse News for China
Larry Husten, PHD
Bad News from Europe; Even Worse News for China: Too many Europeans with coronary disease are not receiving evidence-based treatment, according to a report from the third EUROASPIRE survey. “The majority of coronary patients are not achieving blood pressure, lipid, and diabetes targets as defined in the Prevention Guidelines,” said investigator Dr Kornelia Kotseva, in […]
May 6th, 2010
Large Genetic Study Sheds Light on Triglycerides’ Role in Heart Disease
Larry Husten, PHD
Large Genetic Study Sheds Light on Triglycerides’ Role in Heart Disease: A large new study appearing in the Lancet provides preliminary evidence that triglycerides may play a causative role in heart disease. Investigators in the Triglyceride Coronary Disease Genetics Consortium and Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration studied a promoter polymorphism of a gene (APOA5) tied to […]
May 5th, 2010
• Second-Generation DES Superior to First-Generation DES
• 5-Year Outcomes for Left Main Stenting
Larry Husten, PHD
Second-Generation DES Superior to First-Generation DES: The industry-funded SPIRIT IV investigators randomized 3687 patients to receive either an everolimus-eluting stent (EES) or a paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES). Unlike many previous DES trials, patients did not undergo routine follow-up angiography, thereby avoiding potential bias created by the “oculostenotic reflex.” At 1 year, the primary endpoint — target-lesion failure (defined […]
May 4th, 2010
• HF Readmission: See Me Now Or See Me Later
• No Reduction in MI Following Pneumococcal Vaccination
Larry Husten, PHD
HF Readmission: See Me Now Or See Me Later: After being hospitalized for heart failure (HF), patients who are treated at hospitals with higher rates of early follow-up have lower rates of readmission at 30 days, according to a new study appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Adrian Hernandez and colleagues analyzed […]
May 3rd, 2010
• European Heart Journal Editors Defend Nissen Editorial
• The Straight Dope — HGH Improves Sprint Capacity
Larry Husten, PHD
European Heart Journal Editors Defend Nissen Editorial: In an editorial published online in the European Heart Journal, the editors of the journal defend the publication of an editorial by Steven Nissen on rosiglitazone. The editorial had been published online on February 12, prompting a GlaxoSmithKline executive to write the editors asking them not to publish […]
May 3rd, 2010
(Mis)Information on Fenofibrate in the Clinic
Allan Brett, MD
Several days ago, I — a general internist — saw a 70 year old diabetic woman with coronary disease who was stented 3 years ago and has been asymptomatic since then. During our office visit, I noted that a nurse practitioner who does lipid management in her cardiologist’s practice had added fenofibrate to her statin just a week […]