In-depth cardiology coverage by heartwire news team

Features

Heart-smart diabetes drugs: Pipe dream or possibility?

9 COMMENTS - Mar 28, 2013 11:00 EDT

The FDA states new diabetes drugs now need to show a lack of cardiovascular toxicity. Despite initial reservations, companies are cooperating, and some are even seeking the holy grail of cardioprotection.

Features

JNC 8, ATP 4 guidelines (still) soon to be released

7 COMMENTS - Jan 11, 2013 15:30 EST

JNC 8 and ATP 4 are MIA. Should clinicians be POed? Here are explanation, speculation, and a little news about what all seem to agree is an unusually long delay in releasing NHLBI guidelines on risk-factor management.

Features

One pill to cure them all: Single-drug polypharmacy in cardiovascular disease

27 COMMENTS - Sep 28, 2012 15:30 EDT

Cardiovascular disease is the biggest epidemic the world has ever known, "bigger than HIV," affecting nearly one in three individuals. Given the magnitude of the epidemic and the ensuing worldwide shortage of cardiologists and specialists to treat cardiovascular morbidities, there is a need for new treatment paradigms, say researchers. That's where the polypill comes in.

Features

London 2012: Preventing sudden cardiac death on the world's biggest athletic stage

6 COMMENTS - Jul 23, 2012 06:00 EDT

Approximately 17 000 athletes from 200 countries have descended on London for the 2012 Olympic Games. Medical teams, including a staff of cardiologists, have been preparing for years to ensure the games go off without a hitch; the last thing anyone wants is an athlete dying of sudden cardiac arrest with the whole world watching.

Features

A multibiomarker test for predicting CVD: Has its time arrived?

16 COMMENTS - Jun 20, 2012 12:40 EDT

A Cleveland-based company is offering a multibiomarker inflammation test that it claims offers "additive and complementary insight into an individual's risk for heart disease and cardiac events." Experts who spoke with heartwire agree there is an urgent need for simple, precise prediction tools, but whether the time has come for a multimarker blood test that patients can pay for out of pocket is hot-button issue.

Features

So long, Plavix, what a ride! Clopidogrel patent expires

11 COMMENTS - May 16, 2012 14:45 EDT

Expiration of the clopidogrel patent draws a close to a "fascinating era" in cardiovascular medicine, say experts, having had its largest impact in the ACS and poststenting settings. Yet even as the patent expires there remain some unanswered questions, particularly given the emergence of platelet function and genetic testing for clopidogrel metabolism.

Features

Life on a 12-hour charge: Seeking community in the LVAD age

Mar 19, 2012 11:45 EDT

For people living with a left ventricular assist device, knowing a few simple tricks can make life a bit easier. Others with LVADs make good teachers, but increasingly, LVAD recipients are looking online for answers to their questions.

Lipid/Metabolic

theheart.org's statin safety survey draws mixed response

36 COMMENTS - Mar 14, 2012 16:30 EDT

The poll was intended to assess physicians' concerns about the risk of diabetes in patients treated with statin therapy as well as the potential for cognitive changes; it is in response to recent labeling changes approved by the FDA. For both potential side effects, physician responses point to a disconnect between level of concern and what they are actually seeing in practice.

Features

Vascular surgeons, interventionalists clash over dueling carotid guidelines

Mar 5, 2012 13:50 EST

The Society of Vascular Surgery's decision to publish its own guidelines on management of extracranial carotid disease after already signing on to a multisociety guidance on carotid disease is not sitting well with leaders of some of the other professional societies.

Features

The doctor will see you now (from the other side of the world)

9 COMMENTS - Feb 10, 2012 12:30 EST

A unique "medical mission" using handheld echo in a remote rural population in India is being hailed as a success after cardiologists around the globe logged on over a two-day period to read the echocardiograms of unseen patients half a world away.

Features

The flap over flavonoids

7 COMMENTS - Feb 2, 2012 15:15 EST

The field of flavonoids and polyphenols continues to attract a massive amount of interest, from researchers and the public alike. But can health really be improved by eating chocolate and drinking red wine?

Features

Biggest cardiology stories of 2011

Dec 21, 2011 12:00 EST

What made headlines in 2011? Everything from novel oral anticoagulants, blockbuster trials stopped early, and a new scrutiny on procedure appropriateness. heartwire reporters called up cardiologists across 11 different subspecialties to ask them what they thought the biggest news was in their field this past year.

Features

Survey says: Most cardiologists support elective PCI sans on-site CABG . . . with caveats

36 COMMENTS - Dec 13, 2011 08:00 EST

Is elective angioplasty without surgical backup on-site safe and effective enough for the US? Where would you send a family member? Sparks flew on both sides of the debate, as captured in a survey conducted jointly by theheart.org and US News & World Report.

Features

Battling Big Tobacco: Physician activism vital on smoking's new frontiers

26 COMMENTS - Nov 28, 2011 15:15 EST

Global leaders in the fight against smoking stress that cardiologists and other physicians must become politically active to help counteract the immense power of the tobacco industry, which is constantly seeking to expand the number of smokers worldwide. Doctors have a voice, and they need to step out of their comfort zone and use it to effect change, say activists.

Features

Part 3: Glory—Is cancer beating cardiovascular disease?

2 COMMENTS - Aug 18, 2011 12:45 EDT

Asked what disease they fear most, people overwhelmingly list cancer over heart disease. In the last of a three-part series, heartwire looks at how much public support, fundraising, and volunteerism the two diseases have garnered in recent years and whether cancer's long stint in the limelight may be what's boosting research opportunities and new therapies as CVD lags behind.

Features

Part 2: Money—Is cancer beating cardiovascular disease?

5 COMMENTS - Aug 16, 2011 12:00 EDT

Heart disease is the number-one killer in most of the Western world, followed closely by cancer. But a close look at just how much money is available to support research in both fields points to some striking disparities.

Features

Drugs, money, and glory: Is cancer beating cardiovascular disease? Part 1

3 COMMENTS - Aug 11, 2011 08:30 EDT

Heart disease is the number-one killer in most of the Western world, followed closely by cancer. But a close look at recent drug approvals and pipeline projects speaks to an explosion of new treatments for killer number two, while heart-disease treatments fall behind.

Features

Cardiac rehabilitation: What works, what doesn't, and why

10 COMMENTS - Jul 28, 2011 08:00 EDT

Attendance at a cardiac rehabilitation program after a cardiac event reduces the risk of death and future events, but uptake is notoriously low. Prohibitive costs, poor communication, and a laissez-faire attitude on the part of physicians are all a part of the problem.

Features

What future for niacin after AIM-HIGH?

19 COMMENTS - Jul 4, 2011 17:15 EDT

It is now a month after the surprise announcement by the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that it was stopping the AIM-HIGH trial of extended-release niacin for patients with low HDL and high triglycerides because of futility. heartwire asked several lipid experts and general cardiologists if they had changed their practice since the disappointing, albeit preliminary, results were reported.

Features

Lost in transition: The looming epidemic of grown-up congenital heart disease

4 COMMENTS - Apr 12, 2011 08:00 EDT

Where once they died young, these days most of the 1% of children worldwide born with congenital heart defects now survive to adulthood and need to be followed long term. The majority, however, fall off the radar when they become young adults, in part due to a lack of doctors skilled in adult congenital heart disease.

Features

Betty Crocker, Coke, and CardioSmart at ACC 2011: If CV prevention gets a boost, does it matter who pays?

12 COMMENTS - Apr 2, 2011 13:30 EDT

There's no subterfuge here—the ACC announced its new corporate partners back in 2010 and insists it has solid disclosure and protection policies in place. But as the second annual ACC CardioSmart Health Fair throws open its doors to some of America's highest-risk citizens, some are asking whether the hundreds of thousands of dollars donated by a fast-food restaurant and soda company, among others, lead to more harm than good.

Features

Dick Cheney's 30-year CHD odyssey approaches transplantation crossroad

19 COMMENTS - Mar 31, 2011 09:15 EDT

The former vice president was recently implanted with a left ventricular assist device, but was it for bridge therapy, destination therapy, or "bridge to decision"? How suitable would he be for transplantation? Three expert observers discuss his case with heartwire.

Features

Echo system in your pocket: Rich in potential, niche uses for now

13 COMMENTS - Mar 14, 2011 16:00 EDT

Impressively capable for imaging and undeniable cool as technology, the current generation of smart-phone-sized ultrasound devices may be a leap forward for some uses, but experts warn they aren't a substitute for fully featured echo systems.

Features

As quinidine fades, doctors ask Big Pharma to put patients before profits

5 COMMENTS - Mar 10, 2011 14:30 EST

The situation has gotten so bad that one physician recently couriered quinidine to a colleague halfway around the world who couldn't access it in his own country. Should companies continue to make drugs known to be effective, even if doing so is not good business?

Features

Fear of radiation from cardiac imaging outpaces knowledge about the risks

9 COMMENTS - Jan 25, 2011 15:30 EST

The growth of cardiac imaging is fueling concern over radiation exposure, especially for newer imaging modalities such as CT angiography and for so-called "episodes of care." Some experts are raising radiation alarms for other, older tests, while others point out that pinning down the true cancer risks from any type of test is more guesswork than science.