Journal Watch Cardiology

Who Derives a Significant Benefit From Prasugrel? Prasugrel sales are flagging as other antiplatelet agents are gaining. Is there a particular population for whom Prasugrel is superior?
Journal Article, October 08, 2012
Strategies to Rule Out Acute Coronary Syndromes While this study found that CT angiography for acute chest pain may decrease time in the ER, it does not result in any cost savings--and presents increased radiation risk.
Journal Article, September 19, 2012
Screening Asymptomatic Young Patients With WPW Patterns Clinicians are becoming more aggressive about screening young individuals with asymptomatic WPW patterns for sudden cardiac death risk.
Journal Article, August 16, 2012
Advance Directives in Community Patients With Heart Failure Are community-dwelling heart failure patients being adequately counseled in the use of an advance directive?
Journal Article, June 28, 2012
Is Losartan as Good as Candesartan for HF? An observational study suggests that outcomes for losartan are equivalent to candesartan--but the data may be insufficient.
Journal Article, May 25, 2012
Transcatheter Aortic-valve Replacement: A Lasting Option Is the clinical benefit of transcatheter aortic-valve replacement in inoperable patients with severe aortic stenosis sustained over the long term?
Journal Article, April 27, 2012
Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Cardiovascular Mortality in Women Obstructive sleep apnea is a recognized risk factor for cardiovascular death in men, but does it effect women similarly?
Journal Article, March 30, 2012
Long-distance Runners and Risk of Cardiac Arrest This exhaustive study of nearly 11 million marathoners should reassure long-distance runners that they have little cause to worry--as long as they have no preexisting heart disease.
Journal Article, February 23, 2012
Higher CHADS2 Scores Predict Worse Outcomes This study evaluated the CHADS2 algorithm as a predictor of stroke in AF patients taking anticoagulants.
Journal Article, January 26, 2012
Dronedarone: A Cautionary Tale From PALLAS While the anti-arrhythmic drug dronedarone proved safe and effective in patients with intermittent atrial fibrillation, a new study shows its use in high-risk permanent AF to be ill-advised.
Journal Article, December 29, 2011
Rosuvastatin and Atorvastatin and Atheroma Volume This study comparing the effect of two intensive statin regimens on progression of coronary disease showed little difference between the two.
Journal Article, December 27, 2011
Is Same-Day Discharge Safe After PCI? At first glance, the data from this study might suggest that overnight hospitalization for uncomplicated elective percutaneous coronary intervention is unnecessary--but there are caveats.
Journal Article, November 24, 2011
Cardiovascular Risk: Identifying the Lowest of the Low Is coronary artery calcium better than hsCRP for stratifying cardiac risk? Possibly, but the benefits of using either to guide statin treatment in low-risk patients remain unproven.
Journal Article, October 21, 2011
Door-to-Balloon Times: The U.S. Earns a Pat on the Back In the last several years, the time from presentation with acute MI to primary percutaneous coronary intervention has dramatically improved.
Journal Article, September 23, 2011
Nesiritide Doesn't Benefit Patients With Acute Heart Failure Rapid approval of the B-type natiuretic peptide nesiritide for early symptom relief of heart failure has proven to be unjustified--and perhaps unsafe.
Journal Article, August 26, 2011
Myocardial Injury in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Transcatheter aortic valve implantation is associated with some degree of myocardial injury in most patients. Can cardiac enzyme levels help predict outcome?
Journal Article, June 30, 2011
CABG vs. Medical Therapy in Patients With Ischemic LVSD Coronary artery bypass grafting might reduce the risk for some negative outcomes in patients with ischemic LVSD, but does it actually prolong life?
Journal Article, May 27, 2011
Attributes of Hospitals With the Best Acute MI Outcomes A qualitative analysis of hospital mortality rates following acute MI uncovers organizational characteristics associated with lower risk.
Journal Article, April 22, 2011
Another Contender in the Race to Unseat Warfarin Can the factor Xa inhibitor apixaban replace warfarin in the treatment of atrial fibrillation?
Journal Article, March 25, 2011
Rates and Outcomes of Non-Evidence-Based ICD Placement Are recipients of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator who don't meet guideline-recommended eligibility criteria at elevated risk for complications?
Journal Article, February 24, 2011

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