February 16th, 2015
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: February 16th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include blood pressure lowering in type 2 diabetes and the trajectories of risk after hospitalization for HF, acute MI, or pneumonia.
February 13th, 2015
Can Clopidogrel Get Along with Proton Pump Inhibitors?
CardioExchange Editors, Staff
Are there clinically significant interactions between clopidogrel, proton pump inhibitors, and other drugs?
February 12th, 2015
Discontinuing Aspirin for Primary Prevention: What Do You Say to Your Patient?
Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM
In this scenario based on a study that found once-daily, low-dose aspirin did not significantly reduce the risk for CV events among older patients with atherosclerotic risk factors, Harlan Krumholz asks, “What do you say to your patient?”
February 12th, 2015
Three Trials Show Benefits of Thrombectomy in Stroke Patients
Larry Husten, PHD
Three new studies offer important additional evidence that early treatment with current thrombectomy devices that extract clots from blood vessels in the brain can lead to improved outcomes in carefully selected stroke patients. The trials were stopped early based on efficacy following positive findings last year from another trial, MR CLEAN. The three new trials […]
February 12th, 2015
Insights About the Use of IV Fluids in Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure
Behnood Bikdeli, M.D. and Larry Allen, MD, MHS
Behnood Bikdeli and Larry Allen discuss a retrospective study of the potential risks of IV fluids for patients hospitalized with heart failure who were treated with loop diuretics.
February 11th, 2015
New US Guidelines Will Lift Limits on Dietary Cholesterol
Larry Husten, PHD
The influential Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has recommended that limitations on dietary cholesterol be removed from the upcoming 2015 edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Recommendations to reduce dietary cholesterol have been a mainstay of the USDA and other guidelines for many years, starting with guidance from the American Heart Association in the 1960s. The […]
February 10th, 2015
Study Examines Blood Pressure Thresholds in Hypertensive Diabetics
Larry Husten, PHD
Although the general benefits of lowering high blood pressure are widely accepted, there has been intense debate over specific goals for treatment and the threshold at which therapy should be initiated. A large new meta-analsysis published in JAMA helps shed lights on this important controversy. U.K. and Australian researchers analyzed the effect of lowering blood pressure in […]
February 10th, 2015
Risk for Sudden Death in Spironolactone Users Who Take Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole
Tony Antoniou, PharmD, PhD
Tony Antoniou discusses his case-control study of elderly residents of Ontario who were users of spironolactone and died suddenly within 14 days after receiving an antibiotic prescription.
February 9th, 2015
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: February 9th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include the efficacy of a device to narrow the coronary sinus in refractory angina and an open-label trial comparing the Symplicity device with stepped drug treatment for resistant hypertension.
February 5th, 2015
The ABIM’s Maintenance of Certification Program: What’s Next?
John Ryan, MD
John Ryan reacts to the new American Board of Internal Medicine announcement about its MoC program.