December 2008

Coronary heart disease (CHD) and chronic heart failure (CHF) are common chronic conditions encountered in primary care. Studies have shown that despite a strong evidence base, these conditions are often poorly diagnosed and inadequately managed in primary care.

A 67-year-old man who had an inferior myocardial infarction (MI) 3 years earlier had a daily medication regimen that included aspirin, 75 mg; atenolol (Nova-Atenol, Tenormin), 50 mg; ramipril (Altace), 2.5 mg; and simvastatin (Zocor), 10 mg.

Chronic heart failure and coronary heart disease are chronic conditions that are frequently encountered in primary care and are often inadequately diagnosed and managed.

A 62-year-old man presented to our institution because of a history of chest pain that occurred once weekly, usually after eating, and improved with activity.

A study by Peterson and colleagues used a large electronic patient database to demonstrate how patients at risk for nonfatal coronary events may be identified using reduced exercise capacity on treadmill stress testing as a parameter.

Reduced exercise capacity is associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction, unstable angina, and coronary revascularization in patients referred for exercise treadmill testing for clinical indications.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia, occurring in over 2% of the general population.

The first stent was invented in 1969 by Charles Theodore Dotter, experimenting on canine peripheral arteries.

The introduction of drug-eluting stents (DESs) in 2003 was a landmark development in the field of interventional cardiology.