February 15th, 2012
Mortality-Risk Calculators for AMI and Heart Failure Patients
Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM
Two mortality-risk calculators – one for patients with acute MI and another for those with heart failure – are now available for free at www.mortalityscore.org. The calculators are based on risk models produced by our research group at Yale for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The models are derived from Medicare administrative-claims […]
February 14th, 2012
Meta-Analysis: Air Pollutants Raise Short-Term Risk for MI
Larry Husten, PHD
Air pollution significantly raises the short-term, 7-day risk for MI, according to a new meta-analysis published in JAMA. Hazrije Mustafic and colleagues analyzed data from 34 studies and found a significant increase in the relative risk (RR) for MI with all the main air pollutants except ozone: carbon monoxide: RR 1.048, CI 1.026-1.070 nitrogen dioxide: 1.011, […]
February 13th, 2012
Heart and Stroke Foundation’s “Make Death Wait” Campaign: Advocacy or Scare Tactics?
Marilyn Mann, J.D.
A member wants to know what our readers think of two Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSF) ads. Are they a legitimate way to “wake up” people to the threat of cardiovascular disease? Or unnecessary and counterproductive scare tactics?
February 13th, 2012
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Weekly Review: Week of February 13th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include communicating with patients about screening and treatment and the association between blood-pressure-lowering drugs and gout.
February 13th, 2012
Meta-Analysis Raises More Questions About Routine Use of Aspirin for Primary Prevention
Larry Husten, PHD
Although aspirin can reduce the risk for cardiovascular (CV) events, the associated increase in bleeding suggests that it should not be used routinely in people without prior CV disease, say the authors of a meta-analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Sreenivasa Rao Kondapally Seshasai and colleagues combined data from nine clinical studies including […]
February 13th, 2012
Pop Quiz
Shengshou Hu, M.D.
To celebrate Heart Month, CardioExchange welcomes this fun bit of trivia from Dr. Westby Fisher, an electrophysiologist practicing at NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, Illinois, 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. What does this graph represent? […]
February 9th, 2012
The Y Chromosome May Explain Why Men Have Earlier Coronary Disease
Larry Husten, PHD
The earlier onset of coronary artery disease in men has long provoked speculation and research. Now a new study in the Lancet suggests that common variations in the Y chromosome (which is transmitted directly from father to son and does not undergo recombination) may play an important role in the increased risk seen in men. Using […]
February 9th, 2012
What Are You Doing About Readmission Rates?
Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM
Today there was news that an insurance company may start incorporating incentives about readmission into its contracts. What are you doing about readmission rates at your institution?
February 8th, 2012
Prominent Interventionalists Attack Appropriate Use Criteria for PCI
Larry Husten, PHD
A group of leading interventional cardiologists has launched an attack on the growing role of appropriate use criteria (AUC) for PCI in the U.S. They argue that severe flaws in current guidelines render unreliable attempts to assess the rate of appropriate procedures. In a paper published in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, Steven Marso and colleagues (Paul Teirstein, […]
February 8th, 2012
(In)Appropriate PCI: An (In)Appropriate Critique?
Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and L. David Hillis, MD
According to a recently published study by Chan and colleagues, only 50% of the PCIs performed for nonacute indications were classified as appropriate, according to appropriate use criteria (AUC); 38% were “uncertain,” and 12% were inappropriate. In a new expedited publication, Marso and colleagues retort by expressing concerns with the “current” PCI AUC (see also our CardioExchange news coverage […]