January 19th, 2012
CT Angiography Found Less Helpful in Patients With High Calcium Scores
Larry Husten, PHD
Computed tomography angiography (CTA) has been proposed as a less invasive method to exclude obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), but no consensus has been achieved about its clinical role in different patient subsets. Now a new report published in JACC from the CORE-64 (Coronary Artery Evaluation Using 64-Row Multidetector Computed Tomography Angiography) study shows that CTA may not be […]
January 19th, 2012
Are We Ready to Stop Treating Cholesterol Levels and Start Treating Risk?
Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM
With the advent of ATPIV, should we stick with determining treatment based on LDL levels or is time for a new paradigm based on a more nuanced understanding of risk?
January 18th, 2012
New Enrollment in FAME II Halted After Interim Analysis Shows Benefits of FFR
Larry Husten, PHD
Following a positive interim analysis showing that fractional flow reserve-guided PCI was superior to optimal medical treatment, an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) has recommended that patient enrollment in the ongoing FAME II trial be stopped. The news was announced by the trial sponsor, St. Jude Medical. FAME II (Fractional Flow Reserve-Guided Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Plus Optimal […]
January 18th, 2012
Cangrelor and Alaska’s “Bridge to Nowhere”
Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and L. David Hillis, MD
The Gravina Island Bridge (also known as The Bridge to Nowhere) was a proposed bridge to replace the ferry that currently connects Ketchikan, Alaska (population, 14,000) to the Ketchikan International Airport on Gravina Island (population, 50) at a projected cost of $398 million. The bridge was to have been nearly as long as the Golden Gate […]
January 17th, 2012
Cangrelor Proposed as Bridge to Surgery
Larry Husten, PHD
As a potent and reversible platelet inhibitor, cangrelor has been proposed for use in a bridging strategy for patients scheduled for surgery who are currently taking clopidogrel or another thienopyridine. To test this strategy, the BRIDGE investigators randomized 210 ACS or stent patients awaiting CABG and taking a thienopyridine to receive either cangrelor or placebo for at […]
January 17th, 2012
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Weekly Review: Week of January 16th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include acute MI and potassium levels, cardiac arrest during long-distance running, the anticoagulant idrabiotaparinux, and managing hypertension in the very elderly.
January 12th, 2012
The Safety of the Long Distance Runner
Larry Husten, PHD
Long distance runners may be lonely but they are not at high risk for sudden cardiac arrest, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The RACER (Race Associated Cardiac Arrest Event Registry) investigators analyzed data from 10.9 million registered participants in marathons and half-marathons that took place in the U.S. during the first decade of this […]
January 12th, 2012
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Weekly Review: Week of January 9th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics: bariatric surgery, length of stay and MI, secondary prevention after ACS, and vorapaxar
January 11th, 2012
ASSERT Sheds Light on the Role of Subclinical AF in Stroke
Larry Husten, PHD
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine sheds some much-needed light on the precise role of subclinical atrial fibrillation (AF) in the prognosis and development of ischemic stroke. ASSERT (Asymptomatic Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke Evaluation in Pacemaker Patients and the Atrial Fibrillation Reduction Atrial Pacing Trial) followed 2580 patients with a newly implanted pacemaker or ICD […]
January 11th, 2012
Director of UConn CV Research Center Accused of Scientific Misconduct
Larry Husten, PHD
Following an extensive investigation, Dipak Das, a professor in the Department of Surgery and director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center, has been accused of serious scientific misconduct. UConn has informed 11 scientific journals about the investigation. Das had numerous publications on resveratrol and other nutrition-related cardiovascular subjects. According to […]