April 17th, 2012
Why Make A Stent Out of Cornstarch?
Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and L. David Hillis, MD
Biodegradable stents: here to stay… or will they disappear? A newly-released study reports the long-term results of the first-in-man fully biodegradable coronary stent.
April 17th, 2012
Million Dollar Bonuses for Five Ohio State University Electrophysiologists
Larry Husten, PHD
Five Ohio State University electrophysiologists received 2011 bonus payments greater than $1 million, resulting in total pay for the year for each cardiologist of about $2 million. The news was first reported by the Dayton Daily News and subsequently covered by Heartwire. Five out of seven bonuses that topped $1 million at OSU went to the electrophysiologists. […]
April 17th, 2012
What’s in a Name? Go for the Generic
Nicholas Downing, MD
A recent report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine highlights some “low-hanging fruit” for anyone trying to deliver more cost-effective healthcare. The authors (I am the first author and Harlan Krumholz, CardioExchange editor-in-chief, is the senior author) describe how branded formulations of fenofibrate — marketed by Abbott as Tricor and Trilipix — account for the vast majority […]
April 16th, 2012
The Audible
Shengshou Hu, M.D.
Every electrophysiologist knows there are a million things that can be done for patients with atrial fibrillation. But sometimes not doing an invasive procedure is the best choice.
April 13th, 2012
CT Angiography for Safe Discharge of Patients
(Reprinted with permission from NOW@NEJM, a blog for physicians about the New England Journal of Medicine) Chest pain is the second most common reason for Emergency Room visits in this country, and although only 10-15% of patients admitted with chest pain are ultimately diagnosed with an acute coronary syndrome, the majority of patients get admitted. […]
April 12th, 2012
Ascertaining ASCERT: How Well Do Registry Data Measure Up to the ‘Bedside Test’?
Øystein Horgmo, BSc
In the ASCERT observational study, stable patients (age 65 or older) with double- or triple-vessel CAD, but not left-main disease, were found to have better long-term survival after CABG than after PCI. ASCERT was a laudable achievement in terms of its scope and the level of collaboration it represents. The ASCERT investigators used inverse probability weighting […]
April 11th, 2012
Study Evaluates Losartan Efficacy in Heart Failure
Larry Husten, PHD
The angiotensin II-receptor blocker (ARB) losartan has labored under the perception that it is not as potent as other ARBs, and some evidence has suggested that it may not confer the same clinical benefits as other ARBs in heart failure patients. In a paper from Denmark published in JAMA, Henrik Svanström and colleagues performed a country-wide registry study […]
April 11th, 2012
Anticoagulation Conundrum
Tariq Ahmad, MD, MPH and James Fang, MD
A 75-year-old woman presents to a general cardiology clinic for the first time. She has a history of atrial fibrillation, sick-sinus syndrome requiring a permanent pacemaker, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. She has no specific complaints other than shortness of breath on exertion. Her medications include aspirin (81 mg daily), carvedilol (25 mg twice daily), lisinopril (5 […]
April 10th, 2012
Baseline ECG Abnormalities in Older Patients Tied to Increased CHD Risk
Larry Husten, PHD
Although routine ECG screening in asymptomatic people is not recommended by guidelines, a new study raises the possibility that ECGs in an elderly population can provide a modest improvement in risk classification. In the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study, published in JAMA, Reto Auer and colleagues followed 2192 adults 70 to 79 years of age without […]
April 10th, 2012
Round Two: Heart Rhythm Editor Rejects St. Jude Request to Retract Riata Paper
Larry Husten, PHD
Douglas Zipes, the editor of Heart Rhythm, said the journal will not retract a controversial paper that has raised new safety concerns about St. Jude’s embattled Riata leads. On Friday, as electrophysiologist Wes Fisher told CardioExchange, St. Jude issued a press release alleging numerous mistakes and oversights in an article by Robert Hauser published online in Heart Rhythm linking the company’s Riata […]