Cardiologists: Thumbs Down To SPRINT
–SPRINT should not be used in guidelines to lower blood pressure targets. Should the SPRINT trial be used by guideline committees to lower systolic blood pressure targets? After listening to a high-powered debate at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Rome on Sunday, most audience members gave thumbs down to the proposal. The audience...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 28, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes debate guidelines hypertension SPRINT target Source Type: blogs
Dollars For Heart Docs: 2015 Edition
–Cardiologists received more than $200 million from industry in 2015. In 2015 cardiologists and other cardiovascular specialists received more than $200 million dollars from industry, according to new data released by Medicare. More than 30,000 physicians in cardiovascular medicine received industry payments in 2015, though many of these payments were relatively small amounts. But more...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 24, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics CMS conflict of interest Dollars for Docs Open Payments Pro Publica Sunshine Act Source Type: blogs
Anticipated Heart Failure Trial Delayed Until November
–The results of TRUE-AHF won’t be presented at the ESC. The results of a highly anticipated and already-delayed clinical trial won’t be presented until November at the American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans. Presentation of the trial was originally scheduled earlier his year as a late-breaking presentation at the American College of Cardiology meeting...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 23, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Heart Failure People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics acute decompensated heart failure TRUE-AHF ularitide Source Type: blogs
FDA Delays Approval Of First Agent To Reverse Effect Of New Anticoagulants
Portola Pharmaceuticals announced late on Wednesday evening that it had received a complete response letter (CRL) from the FDA regarding its Biologics License Application (BLA) for AndexXa (andexanet alfa). Approval for the drug had been widely expected earlier in the day, which was the drug’s PDUFA date. The drug had been on an accelerated...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 18, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Heart Rhythms Interventional Cardiology & Surgery andexanet anticoagulants CRL FDA Portola reversal agent Source Type: blogs
Imprecise Medicine: Genetic Tests Lead To Misdiagnosis
–Some black Americans were wrongly told they had a high risk for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Precision medicine offers the promise of an accurate assessment of individual risk for serious conditions like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). But a new report published in the New England Journal of Medicine,” which the authors describe as “a cautionary tale of broad...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 17, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics genetics Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy precision medicine Source Type: blogs
Can 50 Million Blood Pressure Prescriptions Each Year Be Wrong?
–For decades physicians may have been prescribing the wrong diuretic. Now an innovative new trial will settle the question. A radically innovative large new VA trial will finally shed light on a decades-old unresolved question that could have important public health implications. According to guidelines thiazide diuretics are the first-line treatment for hypertension. Hydrochlorothiazide accounts...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 15, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes blood pressure chlorthalidone diuretics hydrochlorothiazide hypertension VA Source Type: blogs
Major Shift As Deaths From Cancer Overtake CV Disease In Western Europe
–In 12 high-income countries cancer is now a bigger cause of death than cardiovascular disease. In Europe as in the rest of the world cardiovascular (CV) disease remains the number one cause of death. But in 12 western European countries cancer now kills more people than CV disease. The finding, which likely presages a major...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 15, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes cancer Europe global burden mortality Source Type: blogs
The Twitter Debate Over Cholesterol Screening In Kids
–Cardiologists discuss the screening controversy in 140 characters or less. My recent post on the debate over cholesterol screening in children provoked a fascinating discussion on Twitter, including comments from several highly knowledgeable experts and clinicians. The discussion started when James Stein, a preventive cardiologist at the University of Wisconsin), tweeted: Lipid screening in kids....Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 11, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes cholesterol guidelines lipids pediatrics screening USPSTF Source Type: blogs
Experts Disagree About Cholesterol Screening In Kids
(Updated) –Lack of evidence leads to major disagreement over guidelines. Once again the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has performed an invaluable— and almost certainly thankless— service. In a series of papers published in JAMA and Annals of Internal Medicine the USPSTF states unequivocally that there is no good high quality evidence to evaluate...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 10, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Diabetes Epidemiology & Outcomes Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes cholesterol guidelines lipids pediatrics screening USPSTF Source Type: blogs
Clinical Trialists Dig In And Vote For Status Quo
–Doctors who got famous for doing clinical trials resist changes to the clinical trial system. It should probably come as no surprise that hundreds of clinical trial investigators whose positions and livelihoods depend largely on the existing clinical trial system have expressed great reluctance and annoyance at a proposal that could radically shake up that system. As...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 5, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics clinical trials data sharing open data randomized controlled trials YODA Source Type: blogs
Top Clinical Investigators Seek To Dampen Impact Of Data Sharing
Despite earlier concerns by its editors about “data parasites,” the New England Journal of Medicine has now published 4 articles offering support in some form for data sharing. But two of the articles— written by many of the most prominent clinical trial researchers in the United States and Canada— express grave concerns about data sharing...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 3, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics Clinical research data parasites data sharing open data YODA Source Type: blogs
The Big Dirty Secret Every Doctor Knows
–Eminence-based medicine is not the exception. It’s the rule. Lately I’ve been writing about eminence-based medicine (here, here, and here). In response to these posts Saurabh Jha, a well-known radiologist and health-policy critic, asked me on Twitter: “How do you find these utter gems?!” I was surprised by Jha’s question. At first I thought...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 2, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics eminence-based medicine Evidence-based medicine Meier Midei Source Type: blogs
Pioneering Interventional Cardiologist Defends Unorthodox Practices
–Bernhard Meier explains why he seals plaques and thinks PFO closure is ‘the best procedure in interventional cardiology’ Recently I wrote about an article by Bernhard Meier, a top interventional cardiologist, in which he rejected the idea that evidence based on randomized controlled trials should be the basis for the practice of interventional cardiology. In...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - August 1, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics eminence-based medicine Evidence-based medicine PFO plaque sealing Source Type: blogs
Changes In Eskimo Diet Linked To Increase In Heart Disease
New paper explores the fascinating history of research into the Eskimo diet. The Eskimo diet and its effect on the heart has been a source of confusion and contention for decades. The observation that Eskimos, who traditionally consumed large amounts of saturated fat and small amounts of carbohydrates, had low rates of heart disease appeared...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - July 29, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes carbohydrates diet Eskimos nutrition Saturated fat sugar Source Type: blogs
Eminence Based Medicine And Cardiac Surgery
Did a top surgeon perform a nonrandomized, semi-prospective, historically controlled clinical trial without IRB approval or patient consent? I don’t want to only pick on interventional cardiologists. Last week I wrote about a breathtaking case of interventional cardiology hubris. In response a prominent interventional cardiologist shared with me a fascinating anecdote about cardiac surgery. Here’s...Click here to continue reading... (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - July 26, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Interventional Cardiology & Surgery People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics CABG clinical trials Informed consent IRB minimally invasive Source Type: blogs
