August 19th, 2011
Is Coronary Calcium Better Than CRP for Predicting CV Events?
Larry Husten, PHD
A new study suggests that people with low LDL levels and high CRP levels may benefit from coronary artery calcium (CAC) scans to identify those who are most likely to benefit from statin therapy. In a paper published in the Lancet, Michael Blaha and colleagues analyzed data from 950 people enrolled in the Multi-Ethnic Study […]
August 18th, 2011
Are Interventionalists Getting Too Far “A Head”?
Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and L. David Hillis, MD
Nallamothu and colleagues have performed an observational analysis of Medicare data on fee-for-service beneficiaries undergoing carotid stenting between 2005 and 2007 in 306 hospital referral regions (HRRs). First, they determined how often carotid stenting was performed by different specialists (i.e., cardiologists, surgeons, radiologists) within each HRR, then they compared utilization rates and 30-day outcomes of the procedure across HRRs. What did they […]
August 17th, 2011
E-doctoring?
Heather M Johnson, MD, MS
The possibilities — and the limits — of giving medical advice online
August 17th, 2011
How Cardiologists Think
John E Brush, MD
Today on CardioExchange, we launch a new mini-series of blog posts on decision making in cardiology. Dr. John E. Brush explores the conscious and unconscious mental strategies that cardiologists use in their everyday work and asks you to examine your own decision-making processes. The aim: to foster a rich dialogue about how we do what we […]
August 17th, 2011
Details of Updated U.K. Heart Failure Guidelines Raise Some Eyebrows
Larry Husten, PHD
Although the updated heart failure guidelines from the U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) are broadly consistent with similar guidelines from Europe and the U.S., outside experts are questioning several key details of the update. A summary of the new guidelines has been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, along with […]
August 16th, 2011
Meta-analysis: Beta-Blockers May Be Less Effective in U.S. Than Elsewhere
Larry Husten, PHD
Beta-blockers may not be as effective in the U.S. as in the rest of the world, according to a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Christopher O’Connor and colleagues analyzed data on patients enrolled in the MERIT-HF, COPERNICUS, CIBIS-II (which did not enroll U.S. patients) and BEST trials. Some 4,200 […]
August 15th, 2011
Drug Eluting Stents: It Pays To Be Picky
Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and L. David Hillis, MD
Why buy the most expensive stent when the cheaper one works just as well? Two recent studies suggest that a more selective use of stents has merits. In an analysis of pooled data from 4 trials (SPIRIT II-IV and COMPARE) comparing the more-expensive everolimus-eluting stent (EES) with the less-expensive paclitaxel eluting stent (PES), Stone and colleagues identified a […]
August 15th, 2011
Bare Metal Stents: The Next New Thing?
Larry Husten, PHD
Although drug-eluting stents (DES) have largely supplanted bare metal stents (BMS) in clinical practice, a new study published in Circulation suggests that using these devices in all patients may represent an inefficient use of healthcare resources. Lakshmi Venkitachalam and colleagues analyzed data from 10,144 PCI patients enrolled in the Evaluation of Drug Eluting Stents and […]
August 12th, 2011
The Third Year
John Ryan, MD, James De Lemos, MD and Andrew M. Kates, MD
For most cardiology fellowships, the bulk of the clinical training is in the first two years. The third year is rather variable, with some fellows taking the time to get to level two certification in several of the subspecialties. Fellows going into interventional fellowships typically spend time in the catheterization lab to increase their skills. […]
August 11th, 2011
Danger of Cigarettes Greater in Women Than in Men
Larry Husten, PHD
Compared with men, women have a significant 25% increase in risk for coronary heart disease caused by cigarettes, according to a large meta-analysis published in the Lancet. Rachel Huxley and Mark Woodward analyzed data from 2.4 million participants in studies that adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors and found that the female-to-male relative risk ratio (RRR) […]