April 21st, 2014
The CoreValve Trial: What Do You Say to Your Patients?
Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM
Harlan Krumholz presents a scenario based on the CoreValve trial and asks, “What do you say to your patient?”
April 17th, 2014
FDA Grants Fast Track Status to Ivabradine
Larry Husten, PHD
Amgen announced yesterday that its new chronic heart failure drug ivabradine had been granted fast track status by the FDA. The company said the fast track designation, which is for drugs that treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need, will aid the development and speed the review of the drug. The company said it planned to […]
April 15th, 2014
Case: Assessment of Cardiac Risk and Need for Preventive Medications
Seth Shay Martin, MD and James Fang, MD
A 68-year-old white woman with a history of obesity and depression is seen for cardiac risk assessment. The quality of her diet varies greatly, and she admits to many dietary indiscretions. She has tried several different diets, including low-carbohydrate/high-fat diets. She does not use the treadmill or stationary bicycle in her house or routinely exercise […]
April 15th, 2014
CoreValve Availability In U.S. Threatened By Court Decision
Larry Husten, PHD
A legal injunction may severely limit the availability in the United States of Medtronic’s CoreValve device, which only received FDA approval earlier this year. The device received abundant praise recently when a large clinical trial demonstrated substantial advantages for CoreValve over traditional open-heart surgery. The injunction is the latest episode in an ongoing patent war in which Edwards Lifesciences, which pioneered […]
April 15th, 2014
Cardiology and the Medicare Data Avalanche
Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM
Harlan Krumholz discusses the Medicare data that was recently released to the public.
April 14th, 2014
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: April 14th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include TOPCAT, fibrinolysis for those with intermediate-risk PE, and more.
April 14th, 2014
The Uncertain Future of Renal Denervation
Larry Husten, PHD
Following the spectacular crash and burn of the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 trial at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) meeting two weeks ago, the future of renal denervation (RDN) — the once highly promising catheter technology that many thought would cure resistant hypertension — appears in doubt. Although the device has not been approved in the U.S. — and will not be […]
April 9th, 2014
Putting TOPCAT in Perspective
Bertram Pitt, MD, Marc A. Pfeffer, MD and Clyde Yancy, MD
TOPCAT investigators Bertram Pitt and Marc Pfeffer discuss the trial, and Clyde Yancy offers his analysis.
April 9th, 2014
TOPCAT Fails to Find Advantage for Spironolactone in HFPEF
Larry Husten, PHD
Although a significant portion of people with heart failure have preserved ejection fraction, none of the proven heart failure therapies has been shown to be beneficial in this important and growing heart failure subpopulation. Now a new NHLBI-funded study has failed to find a benefit in this group for spironolactone, which is a cornerstone of […]
April 8th, 2014
NSAID Use Associated with Atrial Fibrillation in Older People
Use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the elderly is associated with an increased risk for atrial fibrillation (AF), according to a prospective study in BMJ Open. Using a Dutch cohort designed to investigate risk factors of disease onset in the aged, researchers followed some 8400 people for 13 years. None had AF at baseline […]