December 21st, 2010
Rick Lange & David Hillis: Looking Back at 2010 and Ahead to 2011
Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and L. David Hillis, MD
To celebrate the holiday season, CardioExchange asked several of our contributors to choose the 3 most important cardiology-related events of the past year and to make 3 predictions for 2011. Looking back at 2010: 1. Stenting Versus Endarterectomy for Carotid-Artery Stenosis: In patients with carotid artery stenoses, stenting and endarterectomy were associated with similar rates of […]
December 21st, 2010
Say Hello to Your New Drug Rep?
Micah Eimer, MD
Most of the doctors I know have, at one time or another, responded to a web-based “survey”. While I have tried not to make a second career out of it, I will admit that I have on occasion done a survey in between patients, at lunch, or at the end of the day. They usually take 5 to 40 minutes […]
December 21st, 2010
Roger Blumenthal: Looking Back at 2010 and Ahead to 2011
Roger Blumenthal, M.D.
To celebrate the holiday season, CardioExchange asked several of our contributors to choose the 3 most important cardiology-related events of the past year and to make 3 predictions for 2011. Looking back at 2010: Dabigatran etexilate approved to prevent stroke in atrial fibrillation. Several studies have shown that even good Coumadin clinics keep the INRs of […]
December 20th, 2010
JoAnne Foody: Looking Back at 2010 and Ahead to 2011
JoAnne M. Foody, MD
To celebrate the holiday season, CardioExchange asked several of our contributors to choose the 3 most important cardiology-related events of the past year and to make 3 predictions for 2011. Looking back at 2010: 1. The ACCORD lipid trial investigated the effects of adding fenofibrate to a statin (simvastatin) in 5518 patients with type 2 diabetes […]
December 20th, 2010
Dronedarone, Rate Control, and Catheter Ablation Incorporated in Updated AF Guidelines
Larry Husten, PHD
A focused update on the guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation has been released by the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and Heart Rhythm Society. Most notably, the new guidelines incorporate recent data from clinical trials evaluating dronedarone, clopidogrel, strict rate control, and catheter ablation. Here are the major highlights: Dronedarone can […]
December 20th, 2010
Steve Nissen: Looking Back at 2010 and Ahead to 2011
Steven E Nissen , MD
To celebrate the holiday season, CardioExchange asked several of our contributors to choose the 3 most important cardiology-related events of the past year and to make 3 predictions for 2011. Here is the first installment in the series. Looking back at 2010: 1. On September 23, the European Medicines Agency withdrew rosiglitazone from the market […]
December 17th, 2010
FDA Approves Cryoballoon Ablation Treatment for Paroxysmal AF
Larry Husten, PHD
Medtronic announced today that it has received FDA approval for its Arctic Front® Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system for the treatment of refractory paroxysmal AF.
December 17th, 2010
FDA Delays Approval of Ticagrelor
Larry Husten, PHD
Despite widespread expectations of an easy approval, the FDA has issued a complete response letter to AstraZeneca for Brilinta (ticagrelor). According to a press release from the company, the FDA has asked for additional analyses of data from the pivotal PLATO trial, but did not request any additional studies. AstraZeneca said it is evaluating the […]
December 15th, 2010
Heart Disease and Stroke in 2011: Mortality Continues to Decline, but Overall Burden Remains High
Larry Husten, PHD
From 1997 to 2007, the death rate from heart disease declined 27.8% and the death rate from stroke declined 44.8%. But inpatient cardiovascular operations and procedures increased during the same period by 27%, and heart disease and stroke cost $286 billion in 2007, more than any other diagnostic group. These are some of the most […]
December 14th, 2010
Study Finds Inverse Correlation Between HDL and Alzheimer’s
Larry Husten, PHD
High levels of HDL are linked to a lower risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to a new study published in Archives of Neurology. Researchers at Columbia University followed 1,130 Medicare recipients in New York City with no cognitive impairment. After 4,469 person-years of follow-up, they identified 101 cases of AD (89 probable and 12 […]