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Cardiology

News, opinions and meeting coverage in cardiology.

Morning Break: The B.O. Talk, No Love for Niacin

Health news and commentary from around the Web, gathered by the 番茄社区 staff.

HTN May Halt Dementia in Very Elderly

COPENHAGEN -- Among individuals who developed hypertension at age 90 or later, their risk of also developing dementia was dramatically lower than other very elderly people whose blood pressure remained normal.

Friday Feedback: Zero-Tolerance Employment Smoking Bans?

Should hospitals, schools, and companies refuse to hire smokers for teachers and healthcare providers?

FDA: No Clear Sign of Harm With Olmesartan in Diabetics

The evidence linking use of the angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) olmesartan in patients with diabetes and increased cardiovascular risk is not conclusive, according to a completed FDA safety review.

Heart Risk Higher in Sjogren's Patients

PARIS -- Patients with Sjogren's syndrome had more than double the heart attack risk seen in the general population, a researcher reported here.

Victoza Accused of Causing Pancreatitis

The watchdog group Public Citizen has conducted its own analysis of FDA adverse event reports and concluded that the type 2 diabetes drug liraglutide(Victoza) likely causes pancreatitis, the group said.

Small eGFR Drops May Predict Kidney Outcomes

Declines in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) smaller than those that currently attract clinical attention may help predict the risk of end-stage renal disease, researchers reported.

CCSVI Practices Suboptimal but Patients Don't Mind

DALLAS -- Canadian multiple sclerosis patients who left the country to undergo the controversial procedure called chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) often received poor pre- and postoperative care, but most were still relatively satisfied overall, a researcher reported here.

Real-Time Monitoring Cuts Cardiac Cath Radiation

LAS VEGAS -- A radiation detector that emits audible beeps might help interventional cardiologists and others in the cardiac catheterization laboratory reduce their exposure, researchers found.

More Brain Bleeds With Stroke Drug in 'Real World鈥�

BOSTON -- Intracerebral hemorrhage was more common among patients receiving tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in the real world compared with those in a clinical trial, a small, single-center study showed.

Does Tylenol Protect Kidneys in Sepsis?

SAN DIEGO -- Acetaminophen (Tylenol) for severe sepsis patients improved renal function but gave mixed signals in terms of changes in the expected oxidative injury mechanism, researchers found in a pilot trial.

'Bulletproof' Coffee May Hike Lipids

LAS VEGAS -- Spiking coffee with butter and coconut oil -- a concoction known as "bulletproof coffee" -- may be boosting hyperlipidemia in otherwise healthy patients, researchers said here.

The Day My Brother Became a Statistic

My brother would have turned 37 today. Instead, he became a statistic in 1995.

Fewer False Positives With ECG for Young Athletes

SAN FRANCISCO -- When screening high school athletes for cardiac abnormalities, an electrocardiogram (ECG) interpreted using athlete-specific criteria had a lower false-positive rate than a history and physical examination, researchers found.

Leadless Pacing Shows Promise, But Hits Snags

SAN FRANCISCO -- Longer-term results from the first-in-man study of the Nanostim leadless pacemaker showed the device continued to work as expected, but a postmarketing study in Europe has been temporarily halted following reports of perforations and deaths.

Aspirin: FDA Says 'No' Others Say 'Yes'

The FDA issued a message to consumers stating that the evidence does not support the "general" use of aspirin for the primary prevention of heart attacks and strokes.

MRI Helps ID Heart Risk in Scleroderma

LIVERPOOL -- Cardiac MRI could help provide diagnostic information about potential arrhythmogenic events among patients with scleroderma being considered for implantable cardioverter defibrillators, a researcher said here.

Humans Beat Stroke Scales for ICH Prognosis

PHILADELPHIA -- Physicians and nurses in stroke units more accurately predicted outcomes in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) compared with common prognostic scales, a researcher reported here.

APA Meeting Highlights Mental Health Biology

NEW YORK CITY -- The biological basis for normal and abnormal mental function is emerging as a dominant theme in psychiatry research, and the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting that starts here Saturday won't be an exception.

CardioBuzz: Is Marijuana Bad for Your Heart?

Whether marijuana actually causes cardiovascular problems remains unclear, a situation that was not necessarily helped by a study based on 35 reports of cannabis-related complications in France, a country with about 1.2 million recreational users.

Hypoglycemia at Night Tied to Arrhythmias

Nocturnal hypoglycemia was a major risk factor for cardiac arrhythmias in type 2 diabetes patients who were already at an increased risk for cardiovascular events, according to British researchers.

How To Get Medicare To Cover A Spa Trip

Good news for doctors who think their patients need a trip to the spa: Medicare will reimburse, with only two catches.

Missed Doses Cripple Postop DVT Prevention

Missed doses of prophylactic anticoagulation account for much of the deep vein thrombosis that occurs in surgery and trauma patients, a study showed.

Fatty Liver Tied to Diabetes, Atherosclerosis

LONDON -- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an independent predictor of both type 2 diabetes and carotid atherosclerosis, according to two studies presented here at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver.

Diet Rich in Beans, Lentils, Peas Lowers LDL

People who consumed a serving a day of dietary "pulses" -- beans, chickpeas, lentils, and peas -- significantly reduced their low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, a meta-analysis concluded.

Urine Test Can Uncover BP Med Adherence

A simple urine test might help clinicians figure out whether their patients aren't responding to antihypertensive therapy because of true resistance or because of nonadherence, a small study suggested.

Do Fat Teens Face an Early Death?

Life expectancy gains seen over the last half-century do not appear to extend to adults who were overweight or obese in adolescence, according to a large study spanning several decades.

How to Replace IV Nitroglycerin in the Shortage

What are the alternatives for IV nitroglycerin in the emergency setting as the shortage saps reserves? Several experts share their thoughts.

ACC: Metformin No Help in MI Recovery

WASHINGTON -- Metformin started soon after reperfusion in the acute setting didn't help cardiac function recover in nondiabetic heart attack patients, a trial showed.

ACC: Gout Drug Tames the Heart

WASHINGTON -- Colchicine may be as effective at reducing multiple recurrences of pericarditis as it is in treating acute episodes and first recurrences.

ACC: Still No Clear CHOICE for TAVI

WASHINGTON -- Head-to-head comparison of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) devices favored the second-generation Sapien XT over CoreValve, although the trial was criticized on several fronts.

ACC: CoreValve Bests Surgery

WASHINGTON -- Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) with the CoreValve device improved survival compared with surgery in the high-risk pivotal trial cohort.

ACC: Statins Tied to Boost in Men's Sexual Function

WASHINGTON -- Statins appeared to improve erectile function to a clinically meaningful degree, according to a meta-analysis.

Early Preeclampsia Often Overlooked

Clinicians wait too long before diagnosing and treating preeclampsia, a hesitance that can be costly, according to an anesthesiologist who serves on a California preeclampsia task force.

Top 5 Reasons Cardiologists Get Sued

Problems with diagnosis -- failing to make one, making the wrong one, or taking too long to get to one -- lead the list of reasons behind cardiology-related lawsuits, revealed closed claims data from a medical malpractice insurer.

Stroke Rounds: Early Surgery Looks Safe After tPA

Performing carotid endarterectomy or stenting in patients who were recently treated with thrombolytic therapy for an acute stroke appeared to be safe, an observational study showed.

Can Antibiotics Trigger Arrhythmias?

Azithromycin and levofloxacin were both associated with elevated risks of death and serious cardiac arrhythmias during standard lengths of prescription, a study of mostly male military veterans showed.

CT Appears Safe in Patients With Pacemakers, ICDs

Patients with cardiac rhythm management devices showed no clinically significant major or minor events related to computed tomography imaging over a 10-year period at two large-volume care centers, researchers reported.

FDA OKs Northera for Hypotension

The FDA has approved droxidopa (Northera) for the treatment of neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, a rare disease that results in a drop in blood pressure when patients try to stand up.

ER Briefs: DIY Laptop to AED Kit -- Good Idea?

Inventors aim to resurrect laptops and tablets as AEDs. We asked Clifton Callaway, MD, PhD, an emergency medicine doctor who heads up EM research at the University of Pittsburgh, to weigh in.

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