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Source: CardioBrief
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Total 307 results found since Jan 2013.
Doctors Halt Squabbling And Agree How To Manage Hypertension In People With Blocked Arteries
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 end 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 new scientific statement may indicate that some of the drama is dissipating, at least in one important subset of the field. The scientific statement from the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Society of Hypertension...
Source: CardioBrief - March 31, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes american heart association beta blockers guidelines hypertension JNC Source Type: blogs
FDA Grants Premarket Approval To AbioMed Heart Pump
The FDA said today 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 premarket 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 stable) heart function who are undergoing high risk PCI but who are not candidates for surgical revascularization. … Click here to read the full post on Forbes.
Source: CardioBrief - March 24, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery Abiomed FDA Impella PCI Source Type: blogs
A Requiem for Routine Clot Removal During Heart Attacks
Using a stent to open a blocked coronary artery is the treatment of choice in the early period of a heart attack (myocardial infarction). A limitation is the risk of dislodging part of the clot, leading to new downstream blockages of smaller vessels. One strategy that has been under development for a long time is thrombectomy, in which a device extracts the clot prior to the delivery of the stent. Following earlier success in small trials, the benefits of thrombectomy became controversial when a large trial, TASTE, found no evidence of benefit for the procedure. TOTAL (Trial of More…
Source: CardioBrief - March 16, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery MI/ACS heart attacks primary PCI thrombectomy Source Type: blogs
Encouraging Long Term Results For Less Invasive Heart Valves
The publications five years ago of the two part PARTNER trial brought a major change in the treatment options available to some people with aortic valve disease, which is often an extremely serious condition with a poor prognosis. The trial demonstrated that transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was a reasonable treatment option, first for patients who were not surgical candidates and then for patients who were at high risk for surgery. One important lingering concern about TAVR was whether its results would prove to be sufficiently durable. Now the final 5 year findings from the trial, More…
Source: CardioBrief - March 15, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery aortic valve replacement Edwards Lifesciences Medtronic Sapien TAVR Source Type: blogs
Has CT Angiography Lived Up to Its Early Promise?
When it first appeared more than a decade ago computed tomographic angiography (CTA) astounded cardiologists and other physicians. Until it came along the only way to check for blockages in the vital coronary arteries that supply the heart itself with blood was with cardiac catheterization, an expensive, highly invasive and unpleasant procedure. In the following years CTA (the devices are manufactured by GE, Siemens, Toshiba, Philips and others) enjoyed an explosion of growth, fueled by enthusiasm for its ability to deliver speedy, high-resolution images of the coronary arteries. Many anticipated that CTA would prov...
Source: CardioBrief - March 14, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes Chest pain CT angiography heart imaging NHLBI radiation Source Type: blogs
AstraZeneca Drug ‘Approaching The Point Of Diminishing Returns’
After a heart attack (myocardial infarction or MI) patients remain at high risk for recurrent events. The precise role of blood thinning with dual antiplatelet therapy to lower this risk has been the subject of considerable disagreement. Now a new study offers fresh evidence that one important strategy, prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy, can lower risk over a long period ;but only at the cost of more bleeding complications. … Click here to read the full post on Forbes.
Source: CardioBrief - March 14, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery MI/ACS antiplatelet therapy AstraZeneca blood thinners heart attacks ticagrelor Source Type: blogs
What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been: FDA Approves Watchman Device From Boston Scientific
Finally reaching its destination after an extremely long and strange trip, Boston Scientific gained approval from the FDA today to market its Watchman Left Atrial Appendage Closure Device in the US. The device has been in development for well over a decade and had been turned down by the FDA on several occasions. … Click here to read the full post on Forbes.
Source: CardioBrief - March 14, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Heart Rhythms Interventional Cardiology & Surgery Policy & Ethics atrial fibrillation Boston Scientific stroke Watchman Source Type: blogs
High Risks And Rewards Found With Heart Valve Device From Edwards And Medtronic
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is one of the most important advances in cardiovascular medicine in recent years. TAVR devices, introduced recently in the US by Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic, are associated with very high risks, but offer a less invasive alternative to traditional aortic valve replacement surgery. Because of early concerns about potential overuse and misuse of TAVR, many observers have been eagerly awaiting information about its use in the real world. Now a new report published in JAMA offers the best perspective yet on the introduction of TAVR in the US with an analysis of the...
Source: CardioBrief - March 10, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery Policy & Ethics aortic valve replacement Edwards Lifesciences Medtronic TAVR Source Type: blogs
Study Uncovers Confusion About When To Use An Important Heart Test
Appropriate use criteria (AUC) are designed to help make sure that medical procedures and interventions are performed in people most likely to benefit and, in turn, are not performed in people unlikely to gain benefit. Now a new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that the AUC for one very widely performed procedure, diagnostic cardiac catheterization, can provide a very rough indication of when it should and should not be performed, but that a great deal more work needs to be done before the criteria can be considered broadly reliable. … Click here to read the full post More…
Source: CardioBrief - March 9, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes appropriate use criteria catheterization coronary artery disease diagnosis Source Type: blogs
Hospitals, Like Vampires, Want Your Blood
Anyone who has been in the hospital, either as a patient or a healthcare provider, is keenly aware that hospitals perform a lot of tests. It has even been suggested that some of those tests may not be necessary. Now a new study published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery sheds light on just how excessive some of this testing can be. Researchers analyzed records from 1,894 patients who had cardiac surgery at the Cleveland Clinic and calculated the frequency and total volume of blood drawn from their subjects. They wrote that they “were astonished by the extent More…
Source: CardioBrief - March 2, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes blood hospital tests overtesting phlebotomy Source Type: blogs
Medtronic And Boston Scientific Plan To Resume Blood Pressure Trials This Year
Medtronic and Boston Scientific have announced plans to start phase 2 clinical trials this year for their updated renal denervation catheters. The once promising new technology is intended to treat hypertension unresponsive to drug therapy. The failure last year of Medtronic’s Symplicity HTN-3, the first large pivotal trial to rigorously test renal denervation, sent manufacturers back to their drawing boards to redesign the devices. … Click here to read the full post on Forbes.
Source: CardioBrief - February 19, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery Policy & Ethics Boston Scientific FDA hypertension Medtronic renal denervation Source Type: blogs
Three Trials Show Benefits Of Thrombectomy In Stroke Patients
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 were presented today at the AHA/ASA International Stroke Conference in Nashville; two of the trials were published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine. … Click here to read the full post on Forbes.
Source: CardioBrief - February 11, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery Covidien Medtronic stroke thrombectomy thrombolysis Source Type: blogs
New Heart Drug From Novartis: Will It Raise The Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease?
LCZ696 is a heart failure drug from Novartis that many observers think will gain FDA approval later this year and go on to become a blockbuster. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to the drug’s success is the fear that it might raise the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Now a new article in a top cardiology journal lays out the detailed basis for this concern. The authors do not contend that the Alzheimer’s issue will likely ruin the drug’s chances, but they do maintain that the problem needs to be carefully monitored. I spoke with Milton Packer, the co-principal investigator of PARADIGM-HF, the mega trial More…
Source: CardioBrief - February 9, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Heart Failure Alzheimer's disease LCZ696 Novartis Source Type: blogs
Novel Device Offers Hope For Heart Patients With No Alternatives
An entirely predictable consequence of medical progress is the growing number of heart patients with persistent and symptomatic angina who have run out of treatment options. A small study published in the New England Journal of Medicine raises the possibility that a new and novel device one day may provide them some relief. The experimental device, called the Neovasc Reducer, is a coronary sinus reducer system. It is delivered through a catheter to the coronary sinus, where it is then expanded with a balloon, blocking flow through most of the vessel except for a small central orifice. Once in place the device More…
Source: CardioBrief - February 5, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery angina Neovasc Source Type: blogs
No, Too Much Jogging Probably Won’t Kill You
One again lazy health journalists have fallen down on the job and performed a disservice to the public. The new outrage: a multitude of media reports about a small study on the effect of jogging on mortality. Here are just a few headlines, published minutes after the study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Fast running is as deadly as sitting on couch, scientists find (The Telegraph, UK) New study shows casual joggers outlast ironmen over long term (Chicago Tribune) When Exercise Does More Harm than Good (Time) But a careful reading of the paper shows that More…
Source: CardioBrief - February 3, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes exercise jogging journalism physical activity running Source Type: blogs
