February 6th, 2014
Scrutinizing the ESC Position Paper on Radiation Safety in Cardiovascular Imaging
Reza Fazel, MD, MSc
Reza Fazel assesses the strengths, weaknesses, and implications of the ESC document.
February 6th, 2014
Carotid IMT Testing: Misgraded and Misunderstood
James H Stein, MD and Matthew C Tattersall, DO
James Stein and Matthew Tattersall discuss why they believe carotid artery IMT testing was incorrectly graded in the 2013 ACC/AHA Guidelines, and tell us what they think the grade should be, and why.
February 5th, 2014
Eric Topol to Be AT&T’s Chief Medical Advisor
Larry Husten, PHD
AT&T announced today that it has appointed cardiologist Eric Topol as its Chief Medical Advisor. The company said he will “impact the design, development and delivery of AT&T’s healthcare IT solutions, connecting the healthcare ecosystem to enhance health outcomes and care delivery processes for patients and their caregivers.” In addition to his duties at AT&T, Topol will continue to serve as […]
February 5th, 2014
The Value of Imaging Atrial Tissue Fibrosis in Patients Who Undergo Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation
Nassir F. Marrouche, MD
Nassir F. Marrouche, lead author of the DECAAF study, discusses the use of delayed-enhancement MRI to identify atrial tissue fibrosis in patients who undergo catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.
February 4th, 2014
Blood Pressure Trajectory Over 25 Years Predicts Atherosclerosis Risk
Larry Husten, PHD
Everyone knows that blood pressure is one of the most important measurements of cardiovascular risk. Less well known is that most studies of blood pressure have relied on single or isolated measurements of blood pressure. Few studies have even attempted to examine the significance of blood pressure patterns over a long period of time. Now, […]
February 3rd, 2014
Intensive BP, Lipid Lowering Does Not Protect Against Cognitive Decline in Diabetics
Nicholas Downing, MD
Intensive treatment of blood pressure or cholesterol does not slow the rate of cognitive decline in adults with type 2 diabetes, according to a substudy of the ACCORD trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Some 3000 older adults with poorly controlled diabetes, high cardiovascular risk, and no evidence of cognitive impairment were assigned to one […]
February 3rd, 2014
The Not So Sweet Facts About Sugar
Larry Husten, PHD
A new study offers a broad overview of the use of sugar in the U.S. diet and its consequent health implications. The good news is that the growth in sugar intake appears to have stopped and may even have slightly declined. The bad news is that people still consume way too much sugar and that […]
February 3rd, 2014
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: February 3rd
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include biomarkers for systemic sclerosis, the effectiveness of ICDs for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death, and more.
February 3rd, 2014
FDA Evaluating Safety Of Testosterone Products
Larry Husten, PHD
The FDA has announced that it is evaluating the cardiovascular safety of testosterone products. The investigation is prompted by two recent published studies that found a significant increase in cardiovascular events in men who received testosterone therapy. The FDA said it had not concluded that testosterone is unsafe but recommended that “health care professionals should […]