Cardiology

For patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, preventing stroke using anti-coagulation medication is the standard of care. This study looked at using a device that closes off the left atrial appendage of the heart to determine if it too would lower the risk of stroke.

This study was a prospective cohort of 198 self-selected, adult patients with documented coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, carotid artery disease, or peripheral arterial disease who followed a strict, plant-based dietary intervention in addition to standard medical therapy. The study examined compliance with diet as well as adverse cardiovascular events in both adherent and nonadherent patients.

A 60 year-old man presents with complaints of a skipped heartbeat, shortness of breath and some light-headedness while sitting. When he is active, he has none of these symptoms. He is able to walk, climb stairs and even exercise on his elliptical without symptoms.

As of January 5, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recognizes interventional cardiology as its own distinct physician specialty.

While various behavioral and pharmacologic agents have proven to be effective and safe for continued smoking cessation, a combination of varenicline and nicotine replacement (NRT) with transdermal patches has not been shown definitively to be more efficacious than varenicline alone. In the framework of a randomized clinical trial (RCT), the present study evaluates whether a combination of varenicline with NRT improved smoking cessation rates and abstinence duration compared with varenicline alone.

This observational cohort study from New Zealand found that "gossipy" magazines are often subtly taken from your waiting room, while the "non-gossipy" magazines remain.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) have prevented cardiac arrests and deaths, but they carry a risk of giving patients shocks when they don't need them. That inappropriate shock rate has been estimated as occurring in 10 to 20% of patients with the devices, causing unnecessary hospital admissions, and a negative impact on patients' quality of life. They are also associated with increased morbidity and mortality for some patients. But in a study in Heart Rhythm Angelo Auricchio, MD, PhD, and colleagues report on technological improvements in a Medtronic device that has reduced those shocks to 1.5% with a dual/triple chamber defibrillator and 2.5% for a single chamber ICD after one year.

Corticosteroid (steroid) is associated with an approximately 5-fold increase of venous thromboembolism in patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a new study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

A novel oral anticoagulant's trial performance has led European regulators to approve its use in cardioversion for patients with atrial fibrillation.

The self-described naturopath who made millions after his dubious weight-loss product was touted as "magic" on "The Dr. Oz Show" has agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

In a study of older adults, salt intake was not associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease, heart failure, or mortality.

Working more than 3 night shifts per month for years can be hazardous to health, say an international team of researchers

Adherence is more than just a patients' known responsibility to take medications – there are reasons why patients may not want to stick to their regimens, as Lisa Rosenbaum, MD, explored in the latest NEJM.

Cardiovascular disease is often preceded by pneumonia severe enough to be hospitalized for, according to research published in JAMA.

Isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) in young and middle-aged adults is on the rise. A study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that ISH puts these patients at higher relative risk for heart disease and mortality than their peers with normal blood pressure. That raises the question of whether these younger ISH patients should be getting drug therapy.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a polypill for hypertension, a combination of perindopril arginine and amlodipine (Prestalia/ Symplmed Pharma-Servier).

The progression of aging can be tracked – and even slowed – by a blood test that can also possibly detect early warning signs of more serious illnesses.

With so many changes in the health care industry, the days of doctors running solo practices in their hometowns seem to be ending as more physicians opt for employment with large health care systems.

Handwritten prescriptions will soon be illegal in New York. The Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) and 18 national and NY State medical organizations are trying to delay for a year the onset of a law that would require electonic prescriptions, ban prescription pads, and drastically restrict phoned-in prescriptions. The measure, due to take effect March 27, would require electronic prescriptions for all medications-not just for controlled substances but antibiotics, allergy medications or anything else that requires a prescription.

A commonly used sensitive Troponin detection test to confirm heart attacks is often not being used in a way that will consistently detect these events, a UK research team has found. Writing in the British Medical Journal, Zhivko Zhelev PhD, a diagnostics research fellow at the University of Exeter and colleagues reported on their meta-analysis of studies that assessed the accuracy of a widely used diagnostic test, the Elecsys Troponin T high-sensitivity assay.

The hospital shooting death of Boston cardiac surgeon Michael Davidson, MD, 44, has shocked the cardiology world-far beyond his colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital where he was director of endovascular cardiac surgery. On a remembrance page and in formal statements, tributes are pouring in. Davidson, a respected innovator in heart valve replacement, died late Jan. 20, hours after he was shot by the son of a former patient who then turned his gun on himself.He leaves his wife Teri Davidson, who is 7 months pregnant, and 3 children ages 2 to 9.

In the wake of Joan Rivers' untimely death last year, ambulatory surgery centers have come under increased scrutiny. Several recent articles in the literature look at this complicated area of surgical practice.

Older adults hospitalized with pneumonia show an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) according to a JAMA study. Researchers at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada looked at the health histories of 5,888 patients enrolled in the Cardiovascular Health Study and 15,792 enrolled in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. Patients in the first groups were 65 or older and those in the second group were 45 to 65. Of 591 who were hospitalized in the first group, 206 had CVD events within the next decade. In the second group, of 680 hospitalized with pneumonia, 112 had CVD events in the next 10 years.

An analysis of medical records from 5,311 people indicates that even mildly elevated blood pressure may indicate a dramatically elevated risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF). Many studies have shown that patients with hypertension - defined as blood pressure above 140/90 mm Hg - are more likely to develop AF than patients with healthy blood pressure, but the new paper may be the first to document a significant association between AF and blood pressure between 120/80 mm Hg and 139/89 mm Hg.

The incidence and mortality of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, are both on the rise. Globally, the disease is responsible for 227,000 deaths annually. Researchers from the National Taiwan University College of Medicine recently published a meta-analysis that demonstrated a dose-response relationship between fasting blood glucose levels and pancreatic cancer risk. They also examined the link between prediabetes and pancreatic cancer risk.

Researchers at the University of Missouri and the National Research Council in Padova, Italy, recently investigated the role that timing of resistance exercise plays in lowering cardiovascular risk. They wondered if the time of day when diabetics exercise could explain the lower-than-expected exercise-derived benefits seen in some diabetics.

Older people can safely eat just as much salt daily (2300 mg) as younger adults, according to a community-based study reported in JAMAInternal Medicine The current recommendation is 1,500 mg for adults over 50, or a little more than a teaspoon.

AstraZeneca announced that its study of ticagrelor (Brilinta) has met its primary efficacy endpoint. In the trial known as Pegasus-TIMI 54, some 21,000 patients taking the tablets twice a day at a dose of either 60 mg or 90 mg plus low-dose aspirin for secondary prevention experienced no unexpected safety issues.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced the approval of a device to help treat patients with obesity.

What are the risks and benefits of aspirin for high risk patients and those patients across the globe? Jeffrey Berger, MD, from NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, discusses these and other topics.