October 18th, 2010
“Um”
Westby G Fisher, MD
CardioExchange welcomes this guest post reprinted with permission from Dr. Westby Fisher, an electrophysiologist practicing at NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, IL and a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. This piece originally appeared on his blog, Dr. Wes. I never like to hear “Um…” from nurses or industry representatives during surgical procedures. […]
October 18th, 2010
New CPR Guidelines Replace A-B-C with C-A-B
Larry Husten, PHD
Chest compressions gain pride of place (and trump alphabetical order) in the newly published and much-anticipated updated guidelines for CPR from the AHA. The new guidelines replace the traditional A-B-C (Airway-Breathing-Compressions) with C-A-B (Compressions-Airway-Breathing), recommending that “chest compressions be the first step for lay and professional rescuers to revive victims of sudden cardiac arrest.” The […]
October 14th, 2010
Meta-Analysis Lends More Support to Compression-Only CPR
Larry Husten, PHD
There’s new evidence supporting the movement away from traditional bystander CPR in favor of chest-compression-only CPR. In a paper appearing online in the Lancet, Michael Hüpfl, Harald F Selig, and Peter Nagele report the results of two separate meta-analyses. In the first meta-analysis, the investigators combined data from 3 randomized trials comparing compression-only CPR to […]
October 14th, 2010
Want to Blog with Other Fellows at the AHA?
Andrew M. Kates, MD and James De Lemos, MD
CardioExchange is looking for a few cardiology fellows who are planning to attend the AHA meeting on November 13-17 to blog at the meeting. If you’re interested, drop us a line. Let us know the dates that you plan to be at the meeting and any subspecialty or research interest that you might have. The […]
October 13th, 2010
No Conflict, No Interest
Shanti Bansal, MD
On a brisk, cold evening I boarded an overnight plane from my hometown to Cincinnati. Once I landed, a gentleman dressed in a black suit with a grin over his face was waiting for me at the airport to drive me to my hotel. The driver led me through green untouched pastures and over a […]
October 13th, 2010
Sequencing Study Identifies Gene Mutations Tied to Hypolipidemia
Larry Husten, PHD
By sequencing all protein-coding regions of the genome in two people with combined hypolipidemia, researchers have identified a gene that may lead to a new method to lower LDL cholesterol. The report by Kiran Musunuru and colleagues, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has its origins in a study started in 1994 of […]
October 13th, 2010
Transfusions and Cardiac Surgery: “A Major Concern”
Larry Husten, PHD
One new study in JAMA demonstrates very wide differences among hospitals in the use of transfusions during cardiac surgery. A second study finds no differences in outcome based on transfusions. Two editorialists write that “continued inappropriate transfusions among hospitals is a major concern.” Bennett-Guerro and colleagues analyzed the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery […]
October 12th, 2010
Heart Failure and Resource Use at the End of the Road
Larry Husten, PHD
Two studies of heart failure populations — one conducted in the U.S. and one in Canada — shed light on patterns of resource use in the last 6 months of life. Both studies appear in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Kathleen Unroe and colleagues retrospectively analyzed resource use in a cohort of nearly 230,000 U.S. […]
October 11th, 2010
Obesity: Good News and Bad News
Larry Husten, PHD
Two new trials and accompanying editorials published online in JAMA offer hope that lifestyle interventions can result in significant weight loss. The bad news: The results are fairly modest, and it is difficult to obtain reimbursement for lifestyle interventions. In one study, Cheryl Rock and colleagues compared usual care with a program that included free […]
October 8th, 2010
Abbott Withdraws Sibutramine from U.S. Market
Larry Husten, PHD
Abbott has pulled its weight-loss drug sibutramine (Meridia) from the U.S. market. A safety communication from the FDA said the “drug may pose unnecessary cardiovascular risks to patients.” Earlier this year the drug was withdrawn in Europe. Sibutramine was approved by the FDA in 1997. The FDA recommendation is based upon a recent analysis of […]