September 18th, 2013
Is Edoxaban the Most Promising of the Novel Anticoagulants?
Samuel Goldhaber, MD
Samuel Z. Goldhaber offers his perspective on the Hokusai-VTE randomized trial comparing edoxaban and warfarin in patients with symptomatic venous thromboembolism.
September 17th, 2013
How Well Does Hypertensive Retinopathy Predict Stroke?
Mohammad Kamran Ikram, MD PhD
Mohammad Kamran Ikram discusses his research group’s investigation of the value of hypertensive retinopathy in predicting the long-term risk for stroke in patients with hypertension.
September 16th, 2013
Intense Lifestyle Changes May Lengthen Telomeres
Larry Husten, PHD
A very small pilot study offers early evidence that a program of comprehensive lifestyle changes increases telomere length. Telomeres, which have been compared to the plastic caps that prevent shoelaces from unravelling, help protect chromosomes. Telomere length is closely correlated to cellular aging: as we age the telomeres in our cells grow shorter. The new study, published online […]
September 16th, 2013
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: September 16th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include the AMPLIFY trial, D2B time and mortality among those undergoing primary PCI, and more.
September 16th, 2013
Realistic Expectations for Renal Denervation
Larry Husten, PHD
Early trials of renal denervation have resulted in extremely impressive drops in systolic blood pressure approximating 30 mm Hg. These results have sparked a great deal of excitement in the hypertension community and stirred the interest of a multitude of medical device companies. Some experts have proclaimed renal denervation a potential “cure” for resistant hypertension, […]
September 16th, 2013
Combining Randomized Trials And Registries: A New Paradigm
John S Rumsfeld, MD, PhD
Ultimately, we need clinical trials to know what drugs and medical devices work. Without them, we will not have the evidence we need for clinical practice guidelines, and clinical care will not evolve. But traditional clinical trial approaches are not sustainable – too expensive and too inefficient. The new hope for clinical trials is to […]
September 13th, 2013
Should We Treat Nonculprit Lesions During PCI for STEMI?
David S Wald, MA MD FRCP, Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and L. David Hillis, MD
CardioExchange’s Rick Lange and David Hillis interview David Wald about his group’s recently published findings from the PRAMI trial of “preventive” PCI in STEMI patients. Based on results of previous nonrandomized, observational studies, stenting non-infarct coronary stenoses during primary PCI has been discouraged. The Preventive Angioplasty in Acute Myocardial Infarction (PRAMI) trial in 465 STEMI patients assessed […]
September 13th, 2013
Entering New Territory with the Subcutaneous ICD
John Ryan, MD and Martin C. Burke, D.O.
John Ryan poses questions to Martin Burke, the lead investigator of the pivotal trial for the subcutaneous ICD (S-ICD).
September 12th, 2013
Colchicine Found Effective in Acute Pericarditis
Larry Husten, PHD
Although colchicine has been shown to be beneficial in patients with recurrent pericarditis, which is thought to have a large inflammatory component related to an immune response, until now its efficacy in a first episode of acute pericarditis has been uncertain, as these episodes are thought to usually have a viral component that might benefit from […]
September 12th, 2013
Aspirin Therapy with Anticoagulation in Patients with Afib?
Benjamin A. Steinberg, MD and John Ryan, MD
An interview with Benjamin Steinberg about an analysis of data from the ORBIT-AF registry, in which patients with atrial fibrillation who were taking oral anticoagulation and aspirin had a higher risk of bleeding than patients on anticoagulation only.