June 2008

An 80-year-old woman presented to the emergency department after awakening with substernal chest pain, shortness of breath, and palpitations.

A 58-year-old man with stable coronary artery disease, hypertension, tobacco use, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle presented to our institution for routine follow-up.

Ever since the observation in the 1950s that high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was inversely correlated with coronary artery disease, there have been confounding data that have not been reconciled.

Management of atrial fibrillation remains one of the most difficult challenges for physicians and patients.

Among patients with atrial fibrillation, amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacerone) is the most useful drug for the preservation of sinus rhythm.1-3 Although amiodarone carries a well-known risk of potentially serious noncardiac toxicities, perhaps less well recognized is its major cardiovascular side effect of bradycardia.

This issue of Cardiology Review includes an article in the Hypertension section by Dr. Robert H. Fagard, who evaluates the effect of low diastolic blood pressure (BP) on prognosis in older patients with systolic hypertension.

Methadone HCI (Diskets, Dolophine, Methadose) is a synthetic opioid that has been used widely in the United States for the management of heroin addiction Treatment of opioid dependence has been shifting gradually from the older US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection program, ...

There is some debate about whether the risk of cardiovascular events associated with low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels is attenuated by very low low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels (< 60 mg/dL), which can be obtained with statins and combination therapy.

Dr. Fagard from Belgium addresses an interesting conundrum in the treatment of high blood pressure (BP): can there be too much of a good thing?

From the Hypertension and Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Unit, Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.