April 5th, 2013
Cardio-Oncology: Who Needs It?
John Ryan, MD
Our panel sketches out the scope of this growing discipline.
April 5th, 2013
Thrombi on Riata ICD Leads: Another Piece in the Puzzle of Riata Management
Sandeep K Goyal, MD
An author of a new report detailing five cases of conductor-extrusion-associated thrombi on Riata leads discusses his recommendations for screening and lead removal.
April 5th, 2013
Are Adults with Congenital Heart Disease Falling Off the Radar?
Michelle Gurvitz, MD MS and John Ryan, MD
A new study characterizes the gaps in care that patients with congenital heart disease experience as they move from adolescence to adulthood.
April 4th, 2013
Registry Study Offers Reassurance About Safety and Efficacy of Dabigatran
Larry Husten, PHD
As the first new oral anticoagulant since warfarin, dabigatran (Pradaxa, Boehringer-Ingelheim) has been subject to intense concerns over its safety and efficacy in a real-world population. Last November an FDA investigation found no indication that bleeding rates for dabigatran were any higher than bleeding rates for warfarin. A new study from Scandinavia, published in the Journal of the American […]
April 3rd, 2013
International Cardiovascular Device Registries: The Next Big Thing
Larry Husten, PHD
A new initiative involving a wide variety of stakeholders — the FDA, the American College of Cardiology, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, industry, medical journals, and others — could lead to an enormous international cooperative effort to make device registries a standard part of the practice of cardiology. This will be a “huge step,” said David […]
April 2nd, 2013
Lifelong Statin Sentence Now Includes Furloughs
Larry Husten, PHD
Although the benefits of statins are among the best documented in all of medicine, continuous lifelong statin therapy is not always easy to achieve in clinical practice. Now a new retrospective study suggests that although clinical events causing temporary cessation of statin therapy occur often, most of these patients are later able to resume statin […]
April 2nd, 2013
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: April 2nd
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include the TACT study of chelation therapy, off-pump vs. on-pump CABG, clopidogrel with or without aspirin in those taking oral anticoagulants and undergoing PCI, and more.
April 2nd, 2013
Intensive Glucose Control and ESRD – Strongest Evidence?
Kasia Lipska, MD, MHS
Kasia Lipska unpacks a report in Kidney International that claims to provide “the strongest evidence yet” of a protective effect of intensive glucose lowering against end-stage renal disease in type 2 diabetes.
April 2nd, 2013
Perspective On The Controversy About The TACT Trial
Sanjay Kaul, MD
The NIH TACT trial of chelation therapy has been the subject of intense criticism. In my opinion, the arguments that the TACT results are dubious or not valid are overstated. While the debate surrounding TACT is clearly warranted and welcome, I hope it generates more light than heat.