Game Changers for Pharmacists -- 2011
Medscape asked the members of its Pharmacists Advisory Board and Ask the Expert authors to review the year in research. What were the "can't-miss" studies of 2011 that are changing clinical practice? With their help, we offer a quick tour of the most important research across the therapeutic spectrum. It should be noted that this list is not all-inclusive, nor is it in order of importance -- all studies are important, and a comprehensive list would be impossible to construct.
Game Changers in Cardiology
The major news in 2011 was in the areas of prevention and management of chronic cardiovascular (CV) disease, with important new guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Safety, too, was in the headlines, most notably with changes in dosing recommendations for simvastatin.
Some of the Year's Major News
The AHA and the ACC Foundation have issued new guidelines for secondary prevention and risk reduction in patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease. The guidelines incorporate results of recent drug trials with new information on prasugrel and ticagrelor from TRITON-TIMI 38 and PLATO, respectively.
The AHA also issued a scientific statement on triglycerides and cardiovascular disease, which provides important guidance on management of hypertriglyceridemia.
The results of SEARCH were released in 2010, leading to the restriction from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on use of the 80-mg dose of simvastatin.
The ASCEND-HF trial concluded that nesiritide should not be used routinely in the broad population of heart failure patients because it has no clear benefit and may, in fact, increase risk for hypotension.
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Cite this: Laurie Scudder. Game Changers in Pharmacy Practice 2011 - Medscape - Nov 23, 2011.
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