April 27th, 2010
What are we testing for?
Andrew M. Kates, MD
I recently had to register to recertify for my echo boards and it got me thinking more about board exams, review courses and such. What is it about exams? Just what are we testing? Is it basic knowledge, competency, advanced knowledge? In addition, what do we expect our fellows to know as they take exams? This is also […]
April 27th, 2010
• Good News & Bad News for Calcium Scores
• Really Bad News for Steroid Users
Larry Husten, PHD
Good News & Bad News for Calcium Scores: Using data from 5,878 participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), Polonsky and colleagues assessed the value of adding coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores to traditional risk factor assessments. In their report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the investigators concluded that adding CAC […]
April 27th, 2010
COURAGE Two Years Later: Finding Common Ground
L. David Hillis, MD
Following is an exchange between Bill Boden and Gregg Stone, facilitated by Interventional Cardiology moderators Richard Lange and David Hillis. An audio file of the complete conversation from which this text was adapted is available here. Rick Lange: Given all the debate and controversy surrounding the COURAGE trial, what are the issues on which you find agreement? […]
April 26th, 2010
• New Study Raises Fresh Concerns About Clopidogrel and PPIs
• Universal Versus Targeted Screening
Larry Husten, PHD
New Study Raises Fresh Concerns About Clopidogrel and PPIs: In a retrospective analysis of a large insurance plan appearing in Archives of Internal Medicine, patients taking a PPI and clopidogrel had a 93% higher risk of rehospitalization for MI than patients taking clopidogrel alone. To better account for underlying differences associated with PPI use, the […]
April 25th, 2010
Why I Don’t Recommend Statins for Primary Prevention in Women
Rita F Redberg, MD, MSc
For many treatment strategies, the highest-risk groups derive the most benefit. Prevention of cardiovascular disease is no exception: Secondary prevention is where the greatest benefits lie. With regard specifically to primary prevention of CVD in women, my review of the evidence has led me to conclude that statin use is not warranted as a broad-based […]
April 22nd, 2010
Liraglutide Beats Sitagliptin in Glucose Control
Larry Husten, PHD
Liraglutide Beats Sitagliptin in Glucose Control: A once-daily injection of the GLP-1 analog liraglutide was superior to the DPP-4 inhibitor sitagliptin in reducing glucose levels in type-2 diabetics already taking metformin. The report by Richard Pratley and colleagues on more than 600 patients enrolled in the parallel-group, open-label trial appears in the Lancet. Liraglutide also […]
April 22nd, 2010
Endomyocardial Biopsy versus Gene-Expression Profiling
Larry Husten, PHD
Endomyocardial Biopsy versus Gene-Expression Profiling: It may be possible to replace routine endomyocardial biopsy with gene-expression profiling in some cardiac-transplant patients, according to a new study presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine. The IMAGE Study Group randomized […]
April 21st, 2010
• The IOM Passes the Salt to the FDA
• Promising Results for Novel Dual DES
Larry Husten, PHD
The IOM Passes the Salt to the FDA: The Institute of Medicine released a report, “Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the United States,” that urges the FDA to set “new government standards for the acceptable level of sodium.” The goal, according to the report, “is to slowly, over time, reduce the sodium content of […]
April 21st, 2010
Small Steps Lead to Big Reduction in Risk for Overweight Mayo Clinic Cardiologist
Larry Husten, PHD
CardioExchange welcomes this guest post reprinted with permission from CardioBrief, a blog written by the news editor of CardioExchange, Larry Husten, PhD. Small Steps Lead to Big Reduction in Risk for Overweight Mayo Clinic Cardiologist: Moderate changes in lifestyle can lead to big reductions in risk, as reported in a feature story in the Wall […]
April 20th, 2010
• Add Sugar, Add Risk
• Fill the Plavix Prescription, or Else…
Larry Husten, PHD
Add Sugar, Add Risk: People with diets that contain large amounts of added sugars (e.g., high-fructose corn syrup) have lower HDL levels and higher triglyceride levels, according to a new report from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) appearing in JAMA. “Monitoring trends in consumption and understanding the effect added sugars have on […]
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