September 30th, 2010
Don’t Take My Fun Away
John Mandrola, MD, FACC
John Mandrorla is a cardiac electrophysiologist and blogger on matters medical and general. In a recent post to his blog Dr John M, he celebrates his enduring sense that doctoring is still a great job.
September 29th, 2010
How Are You Managing Co-Morbid Conditions?
Joseph S. Ross, MD, MHS
Some of you may remember a 2005 paper in JAMA, in which relevant clinical practice guidelines were applied to a hypothetical 79-year-old woman. This woman had multiple co-morbid conditions, otherwise known as multimorbidity, including COPD, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, hypertension, and osteoarthritis. The authors surmised that, if guideline-directed care were followed, this hypothetical patient would be […]
September 28th, 2010
ICD Software Upgrade Can Reduce Inappropriate Shocks from Faulty Leads
Larry Husten, PHD
A software upgrade for ICDs can help reduce inappropriate shocks, according to a study published online in Circulation. Following reports of high failure rates of Sprint Fidelis defibrillation leads, a software program known as a lead-integrity alert (LIA) was developed for download into previously implanted ICDs. Charles Swerdlow and colleagues compared 213 ICD patients who received […]
September 27th, 2010
Carotid Endarterectomy Still Beneficial At 10 Years
Larry Husten, PHD
Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) in asymptomatic patients under 75 years of age reduces the long-term risk of stroke, according to 10-year results from the Asymptomatic Carotid Surgery Trial (ACST), published in the Lancet. The ACST investigators randomized 3120 asymptomatic patients to immediate CEA or to indefinite deferral of CEA. At 5 years, CEA had been performed […]
September 27th, 2010
Xience V Holds Its Own With Sirolimus-Eluting Stents
Larry Husten, PHD
In the trials presented on Thursday at TCT, the everolimus-eluting Xience V stent (EES) proved superior to the paclitaxel-eluting Taxus stent at 2 years. But, as Gregg Stone discussed here recently, a more formidable comparator for EES are the sirolimus-eluting stents (SES). Two trials presented on Friday demonstrated that EES are comparable in efficacy to […]
September 27th, 2010
Promising Results for New DES in Peripheral Disease
Larry Husten, PHD
A new drug-eluting stent designed to treat peripheral disease showed promising results in the largest trial yet of endovascular treatment in this population. The 12-month results of the Zilver PTX randomized trial comparing a novel paclitaxel-eluting stent versus balloon angioplasty and bare-metal stenting in patients with symptomatic above-the-knee femoropopliteal artery disease were presented at TCT2010 by Michael […]
September 26th, 2010
Avandia: Lessons Learned and Unanswered Questions
Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM
The following is republished from Pharmalot, a widely read site that provides commentary on the pharmaceutical industry and related litigation. What should we make of the decisions on Avandia yesterday? There remains some controversy about the risk, but the concerns were sufficient, given the therapeutic alternatives, to bring about action. The Europeans decided to suspend […]
September 24th, 2010
Xience V Stent Still Strong at 2 Years
Larry Husten, PHD
Two large trials presented at TCT continue to demonstrate the long-term superiority of the everolimus-eluting stent (EES) over the paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES). Gregg Stone presented two-year outcomes from more than 3500 patients randomized in the SPIRIT IV trial to either the Xience V or the Taxus stents. At two years, the rate of target lesion failure — […]
September 24th, 2010
ACC Will Co-Sponsor TCT Symposium in 2011
Larry Husten, PHD
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) will be a co-sponsor of the TCT Symposium in 2011, the ACC and the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) announced on Thursday. The arrangement will deepen the existing relationship between the two organizations, which already collaborate on the Innovations in Interventions (i2) Summit at ACC’s Annual Scientific Sessions. In a blog […]
September 23rd, 2010
FDA and EMA Split on Fate of Avandia
Larry Husten, PHD
The FDA and the European Medicines Agency announced separate and divergent decisions on the fate of rosiglitazone (Avandia) today. On the one hand, the FDA announced that it would allow rosiglitazone to remain on the market, though only with severe restrictions on its use. Additionally, the FDA said it would require the drug’s manufacturer “to […]