December 12th, 2012
Boehringer Ends Phase 2 Trial of Dabigatran in Mechanical Valve Patients
Larry Husten, PHD
Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that it had discontinued a phase 2 trial of its anticoagulant drug dabigatran (Pradaxa) in patients with mechanical heart valves. As reported here in October, the company had previously terminated one arm of the study after an interim review of the data by the trial’s Data Safety Monitoring Board. The RE-ALIGN trial was an open-label, 12-week randomized comparison […]
December 12th, 2012
AMPLIFYING Treatment for DVT/PE
John Ryan, MD
John Ryan reviews the latest data and suggests that DVT/PE be managed as a chronic condition. Are you using apixaban in these patients, and how long are you treating them for?
December 11th, 2012
No Surprise: Smoking and Sudden Cardiac Death Closely Tied
Larry Husten, PHD
Compared with women who never smoked, the risk of sudden cardiac death was significantly elevated in current smokers (relative risk 2.44) and former smokers (1.40). Quitting helps: by 20 years the risk for ex-smokers was similar to women who had never smoked.
December 10th, 2012
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: December 10th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include a comparison of warfarin and new oral anticoagulants for managing AF and VTE, two studies of a monoclonal antibody to PCSK9 in patients with hypercholesterolemia, and more.
December 8th, 2012
Prolonged Anticoagulation with Apixaban Beneficial in Venous Thromboembolism
Larry Husten, PHD
A new study suggests that extending anticoagulant therapy for an additional year may be beneficial after patients with venous thromboembolism complete their initial course of therapy. The results of AMPLIFY-EXT (Apixaban after the Initial Management of Pulmonary Embolism and Deep Vein Thrombosis with First-Line Therapy-Extended Treatment) were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society […]
December 8th, 2012
ECG Screening via iPhone — Game Changer or Just a Game?
Shengshou Hu, M.D.
Thoughts from Dr. Wes about the strengths and limitations of AliveCor’s ECG Case for iPhone, newly approved by the FDA
December 7th, 2012
Heparin Labels Will Be Revised to Reduce Dosing Miscalculations
Kristin J. Kelley, CardioExchange Staff
Heparin manufacturers will now be required to state the total drug strength of the entire container on their labels, the FDA announced on Thursday. The revisions, proposed by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) in order to avoid medication errors caused by dosing miscalculations, will take effect on May 1, 2013. The new labels for heparin […]
December 7th, 2012
Should Body Weight Influence Choice of Antihypertensive Therapy?
Larry Husten, PHD
The hypertension field has been troubled by repeated observations that normal weight patients have more cardiovascular (CV) events than obese patients. Now a new analysis of a large hypertension trial confirms this finding but also suggests that it may be explained by either an adverse effect of diuretics or a protective effect of calcium-channel blockers in non-obese […]
December 5th, 2012
Aspirin Resistance May Not Be Real
Larry Husten, PHD
Is it resistance or pseudoresistance? According to a new study published in Circulation, aspirin resistance may be a myth, an artifact of the enteric coating of most aspirin tablets. The coating, which is designed to prevent gastrointestinal side effects caused by aspirin, may delay or conceal the effects of the drug, the study suggests, but the antiplatelet effects will […]
December 3rd, 2012
The Role of Social Media in Fighting Childhood Obesity
Larry Husten, PHD
“More parental involvement and more interaction with counselors and peers was associated with greater success rates for overweight children and teens who participated in an online intervention.”