March 31st, 2015
New Consensus for Managing Hypertension in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease
Larry Husten, PHD
There’s been a lot of drama in the hypertension field over the past few years. Initially sparked by the decision of the National Institutes of Health to halt its sponsorship of national guidelines, the subsequent appearance of multiple guidelines with divergent recommendations led to even more controversy and discussion. Now, however, the appearance of a […]
March 30th, 2015
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: March 30th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include two papers comparing everolimus-eluting stents and CABG and a study of short-term exposure to air pollution and stroke.
March 30th, 2015
How Do You Like Them Apples?
Larry Husten, PHD
An apple a day does not appear to keep the doctor away but, a new study semi-seriously suggests, it may keep the pharmacist away. Although apples have long been considered a healthy snack, whether eating apples actually reduces healthcare use has not been assessed until now. In a paper published in JAMA Internal Medicine researchers […]
March 27th, 2015
Fighting the Contradiction: A Hospital Rolls Out the Red Carpet for Smokers
Jean-Pierre Usdin, MD
Jean-Pierre Usdin is frustrated with his “Tobacco-Free” hospital’s accommodations for smokers that encourage them to keep smoking instead of supporting them to quit.
March 24th, 2015
FDA Grants Premarket Approval to AbioMed Heart Pump
Larry Husten, PHD
The FDA said on Tuesday that it had approved Abiomed’s Impella 2.5 System. According to the company, it is is the first hemodynamic support device to gain FDA approval for use during high risk PCI procedures. The miniature blood pump is designed for temporary use in patients with severe symptomatic coronary artery disease and diminished (but […]
March 23rd, 2015
Putting PROMISE in Greater Context
Daniel Mark and Larry Husten, PHD
The PROMISE trial, which was presented and discussed in a Journal Club forum at ACC.15, prompted some interesting discussion when CardioExchange covered it as a news story on March 14. Dr. Daniel B. Mark, one of the PROMISE investigators, now sheds further light on the trial in response to questions from CardioExchange news writer Larry […]
March 23rd, 2015
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: March 23rd
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include antiplatelet therapy duration following bare metal or drug-eluting coronary stents, thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke, and more.
March 23rd, 2015
Dangerous Interaction: New Hepatitis C Drug and Old Arrhythmia Drug
Larry Husten, PHD
Late last week Gilead Sciences issued a warning about a rare but potentially fatal interaction between its stellar new hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir and amiodarone, a potent but tricky antiarrhythmic agent. Sofosbuvir is marketed as Sovaldi and, in combination with another antiviral agent, as Harvoni. Amiodarone is a class III antiarrhythmic with a number of […]
March 18th, 2015
Networking Opportunities and Cardiology Bootcamp at ACC.15
Saurav Chatterjee, MD
Saurav Chatterjee reports from the 2015 ACC conference with even more exciting opportunities for fellows in training and other health care professionals.
March 17th, 2015
CABG vs. PCI for Multivessel CAD: Do Second-Generation Stents Make a Difference
wpengine
Second-generation stents narrow the gap between coronary artery bypass grafting and percutaneous coronary intervention for nondiabetic patients with multivessel disease.