July 10th, 2014
Behind the Patient Decision-Making Process for a Destination-Therapy LVAD
Colleen Kelley McIlvennan, DNP, ANP, Larry Allen, MD, MHS and Dan Matlock, MD, MPH
Colleen K. McIlvennan, Larry A. Allen, and Daniel D. Matlock discuss their study of how patients choose whether to get a left ventricular assist device as destination therapy.
July 10th, 2014
Should Doctors Be Paid Overtime for Taking Call?
David Mann, MD
On call is the worst thing about being a doctor, and here’s why.
July 8th, 2014
TAVI Explored to Treat Aortic Bioprosthesis Failure
Larry Husten, PHD
With the increasing use of bioprosthetic aortic valves in aortic valve replacement surgery, more and more physicians and patients will inevitably be faced with the dilemma of how best to treat degenerated valves. Although surgical reoperation is considered the best solution, many patients are too old and frail for surgery. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) […]
July 8th, 2014
USPSTF Finalizes Recommendations on Carotid Artery Stenosis Screening
Nicholas Downing, MD
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended against screening for asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis in the general adult population (grade D recommendation). Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the statement reiterates the group’s 2007 guidance. The harms of screening outweigh the benefits, the task force says. The groups notes that all screening strategies […]
July 7th, 2014
HEAT-PPCI: Heparin Beats Bivalirudin in Primary PCI
Larry Husten, PHD
Although there is broad consensus in the medical community that primary PCI is the best treatment for MI patients when it can be delivered promptly, there is no agreement about the best accompanying drug regimen, which usually entails a combination of antiplatelet and antithrombotic drugs. The role of one antithrombotic, bivalirudin (Angiomax, The Medicines Company) has […]
July 7th, 2014
Statins Are a Mess: We Need Better Data, and Shared Decision Making
Ben Goldacre, MB, BS, BA, MA, MBBS, MSc
The following open letter was originally published on The British Medical Journal‘s editorial page regarding the adverse effects of statins for patients with low risk of cardiovascular disease. It was written in response to an analysis by Abramson et al, and more information on the subject can be found here. I have two observations to […]
July 7th, 2014
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: July 7th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include the effect of patients’ risks and preferences on health gains with plasma glucose level lowering in type 2 diabetes, a meta-analysis of revascularization vs. medical treatment in patients with stable CAD, and more.
July 3rd, 2014
Retraction Dissolves Credibility of Acid-Bath-Generated Stem Cells
Sadly, what seemed too good to be true now is: subjecting adult cells to an acid bath does not transform them into pluripotent stem cells, and the Nature papers reporting the effect have been retracted. After initial excitement over the findings in January, a number of laboratories reported having trouble duplicating the results. Then in […]
July 3rd, 2014
Sitagliptin Associated with Increase in Heart Failure Hospitalizations
Larry Husten, PHD
The cardiovascular effects of drugs used for glucose control in patients with diabetes have been a subject of controversy for many years now. More recently, attention has started to focus specifically on the risk for heart failure (HF). Now, an observational study will likely raise new questions about the dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-4 inhibitor sitagliptin (Januvia, Merck). […]