February 19th, 2013
‘So, Doctor, How Bad Is It?’
Reva Balakrishnan, MD, MPH
While on my Electrophysiology rotation, I was asked to interrogate an ICD of a patient who had received a shock from her device the night prior to admission. I performed the interrogation, confirmed that it was an appropriate shock for VT, noting that multiple appropriate shocks had occurred in the preceding months. As I was […]
February 18th, 2013
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: February 18th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include the relationship between hospital readmission and mortality rates for those hospitalized with acute MI, HF, or pneumonia, the effects of body size and hypertension treatments on CV event rates, and more.
February 18th, 2013
St. Jude Raises the Stakes in Renal Denervation with an Outcomes Study
Larry Husten, PHD
The already hot field of renal denervation for resistant hypertension just got a little hotter. With the announcement of a clinical trial powered to detect improvements in cardiovascular outcomes, St. Jude Medical has raised the stakes in the field and demonstrated a new level of commitment to the innovative new technology. For the past few […]
February 15th, 2013
Amid Rising Tide of Diabetes More Patients Reach Treatment Goals
Larry Husten, PHD
There’s a glimmer of good news amidst all the recent bad news about diabetes. Although the prevalence of diabetes has doubled over the last generation, more people today are reaching their treatment goals than in the past. New data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), published online today in Diabetes Care, show that efforts to control hemoglobin […]
February 15th, 2013
When Patients Can Obtain Their Own EKG
Shengshou Hu, M.D.
The FDA has approved a device that enables patients to obtain their own EKG with their iPhone. Calling this development “uncharted medicolegal territory”, Wes Fisher explores the potential dilemmas this device will cause for doctors and patients.
February 14th, 2013
No Aspirin After DES? Is This The Wild, Wild WOEST?
Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and L. David Hillis, MD
According to the recently published results of the WOEST trial, patients receiving anticoagulation thereapy who undergo stenting have better outcomes with clopidogrel only than with clopidogrel plus aspirin. Rick Lange and David Hillis ask: Are you ready to stop prescribing aspirin to these patients?
February 13th, 2013
FDA Approves Second-Generation MRI-Friendly Pacemaker System from Medtronic
Larry Husten, PHD
Medtronic announced today that the FDA had approved its Advisa DR MRI SureScan, a next-generation pacemaker system specifically designed and tested for use with MRI scanners. The system, which Medtronic said would be launched immediately, includes the Advisa MRI device and two CapSureFix MRI SureScan leads. Medtronic said that more than 100,000 of its first-generation Revo SureScan devices […]
February 13th, 2013
High Calcium Intake Linked to Increased CV and Mortality Risks in Women
Christine Sadlowski, MS
Calcium intake above 1400 mg a day was associated with increased risks for cardiovascular disease and mortality among women in a prospective Swedish study in BMJ. More than 60,000 women aged 39 to 73 at baseline completed a diet questionnaire starting in 1987. Over a median follow-up of 19 years, women who consumed 1400 mg or […]
February 12th, 2013
ACC and STS Break New Ground to Test TAVR for Unapproved Uses
Larry Husten, PHD
In a startling break with tradition, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) will manage and run their own clinical trials testing expanded uses for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The two medical groups have recently been granted an investigational device exemption (IDE) by the FDA for one such […]
February 12th, 2013
Conflict Of Interest Is A Complex Issue
Robert McKinnon Califf, MD and Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM
In a recent editorial in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Robert Califf discusses a few of the many complex questions related to the conflict of interest issue. Here CardioExchange’s Harlan Krumholz further explores the issue with Califf. CardioExchange: Do you think that conflict of interest issues are mostly an issue about optics and […]