theheart.org : Hypertension

Lipid/Metabolic

Components of metabolic syndrome linked to plaque progression

Mar 9, 2010 14:00 EST

A new IVUS study has found that although the metabolic syndrome is associated with accelerated plaque progression, this can be attributed to its individual component risk factors rather than the syndrome itself.

Hypertension

Overweight, obese gain greater benefit from BP lowering

Mar 8, 2010 16:00 EST

The overweight and obese should be more aggressively treated with antihypertensive therapy than normal-weight individuals, because they will derive greater benefit, a new analysis of the PROGRESS study suggests.

News

What's going to be hot at ACC 2010?

Mar 5, 2010 16:45 EST

Pack this up for your patients: program chairs say a patient-care focus means results of this year's line-up of late-breaking clinical trials will have immediate relevance to clinical practice. Highlights include two ACCORD analyses looking at blood pressure and lipids, the EVEREST II results with the MitraClip, the MM-WES study of warfarin genotyping, plus a range of DES, HF, and atrial-fibrillation studies that may help answer the question of what therapies work best and at the best price.

Prevention

Call for increased awareness, identification of prediabetes

2 COMMENTS - Mar 3, 2010 12:15 EST

Less than 10% of adults in the US with prediabetes are aware that they are at high risk of developing diabetes, according to the first nationally representative survey of adults there. But gaining advice from a doctor to improve lifestyle was motivating, the study found.

Imaging

Weight loss, regardless of diet intervention, can reverse carotid disease

1 COMMENT - Mar 2, 2010 16:45 EST

Improvements in carotid disease severity, as measured by conventional ultrasound but also a three-dimensional volumetric ultrasound technique, were independent of whether patients followed a low-fat, "low-carb," or Mediterranean diet in an imaging substudy of a randomized trial.

Prevention

US salt-reduction policy would save billions of dollars

4 COMMENTS - Mar 1, 2010 17:00 EST

Adding more weight to the argument for a populationwide approach to reduce dietary sodium levels in the US is a new study suggesting such a move would save $32 billion in medical costs.

Medscape Medical News

Medicare will delay paying claims for two weeks

2 COMMENTS - Mar 1, 2010 12:00 EST

The move by Medicare is intended to blunt the effect of the 21.2% pay cut. If a fix is passed, CMS carriers will pay March claims that had been put on hold, at the current rate.

Heart failure

Implanted LA-pressure sensor guides HF meds, prevents decompensations in pilot study

1 COMMENT - Feb 26, 2010 17:30 EST

Patients with the device self-adjusted their daily diuretic intake based on left-atrial pressure readings according to instructions prepared for them by their physicians.

Medscape Medical News

Medicare pay cut of 21.2% to take effect Monday

6 COMMENTS - Feb 26, 2010 16:30 EST

Senate Democrats will not introduce legislation creating a new effective date for the reduction until next week, according to a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Prevention

Less is more: Small changes would improve heart-disease outcomes in US

Feb 25, 2010 18:30 EST

Rather than concentrating primarily on medical technologies and greater use of pharmacotherapy, the US needs to seriously address lifestyle risk factors if it wants to properly tackle its heart-disease epidemic, a new Lancet editorial concludes.

Hypertension

IOM report calls hypertension the "neglected disease"

Feb 22, 2010 18:15 EST

Most patients diagnosed with hypertension do not have their blood pressure adequately controlled, the report found. Physicians are also failing to adhere to guidelines for treating mild hypertension in older patients.

Lipid/Metabolic

New Senate report puts Avandia safety in spotlight again

3 COMMENTS - Feb 22, 2010 08:45 EST

A new Senate report has rekindled debate about the cardiovascular safety of GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes agent rosiglitazone, stating that there are "serious health risks" associated with the drug. It also severely condemns company tactics and criticizes the FDA's role in events.

Arrhythmia/EP

Gene variants blur line between "lone" AF and typical AF presentation

Feb 21, 2010 13:00 EST

Yet another set of genetic mutations has been linked to atrial fibrillation; the relation appears strongest in patients with symptomatic AF but no apparent structural heart disease. The function of the affected gene, KCNN3, makes the finding especially intriguing, researchers say.

News

Latest Grassley letter seeks clarity on 510(k) loophole through which Myxo ring went to market

Feb 18, 2010 16:00 EST

The letter is the latest in a series from the senator's office probing the Myxo ETlogix annuloplasty ring—a device that made its way onto the market based on FDA guidance that Grassley has singled out as flawed.

Medscape Medical News

Hypertension may predict dementia in older adults

Feb 18, 2010 10:15 EST

Hypertension increases risk of progression from cognitive impairment to dementia in a subset of patient with a cognitive deficit known as executive dysfunction.

Brain/Kidney/Peripheral

Amlodipine/benazepril best for slowing progression of chronic kidney disease

Feb 17, 2010 18:30 EST

An analysis of the ACCOMPLISH study showed that after a mean follow-up of three years, amlodipine and benazepril significantly reduced the progression to chronic kidney disease 48%, an absolute reduction of 1.7%, when compared with benazepril and hydrochlorothiazide, in hypertensive patients at high risk for cardiovascular events.

Prevention

New overview of 9p21 gene variants show significant but modest link with heart disease

Feb 17, 2010 10:00 EST

The results also suggest this association varies with age but less so with race.

Prevention

Broad genetic score adds nothing above traditional CV risk factors

Feb 16, 2010 16:00 EST

Combining all known single nucleotide polymorphisms for heart disease—or at least all of the ones discovered by June of last year—results in a score that's no better than traditional risk factors at predicting women who'll go on to have a cardiovascular event. Researchers say their "brute-force" approach may yet yield results.

News

ACC backs cardiologist for Congress, tests political clout at pivotal time for US healthcare

7 COMMENTS - Feb 14, 2010 16:30 EST

The college's political action committee recently donated $5000 to the campaign of Georgia Republican Chris Cates. The conservative candidate has set his sights on blocking some of the proposed changes to US healthcare, something he sees as "the biggest power grab in the history of our country."

Hypertension

Changing times: New approach needed in PAH trials

Feb 10, 2010 11:30 EST

A new review concludes that current treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension have "uncertain" effects on long-term survival and concludes that a novel approach is needed for future clinical trials. One expert not involved in the review says change is coming.

Heart failure

Novel biomarker-guided strategy hastens optimal dosing in highest-risk HF patients

Feb 10, 2010 10:30 EST

Once higher-risk patients are identified by natriuretic-peptide testing, the assays can be used to accelerate their beta-blocker uptitration and optimize dosing of other drugs, researchers say.

Prevention

Aspirin's US REACH: 25% of secondary-prevention patients not treated

1 COMMENT - Feb 9, 2010 16:30 EST

A new registry analysis should remind physicians to step up use of aspirin in patients proven to benefit but also gives a snapshot of aspirin use in primary prevention that may prove helpful when results come in from the large trials in this group.

Heart failure

African Americans have highest risk of peripartum cardiomyopathy

Feb 8, 2010 17:00 EST

African American women have much higher odds of developing peripartum cardiomyopathy than non-African Americans, a new US study shows; the findings illustrate that race is by far the largest risk factor for this disease, say the researchers.

Clinical cardiology

From the heart: Call for better African CV research

Feb 8, 2010 17:00 EST

Two doctors from Mozambique are calling for concerted efforts to foster multidisciplinary research into neglected cardiovascular diseases that predominantly occur in Africa. These include newly emerging cardiac manifestations of infectious diseases, say the authors.

Arrhythmia/EP

Stand up and be counted: ECG-based test for long-QT syndrome proposed

1 COMMENT - Feb 3, 2010 17:15 EST

Easily added to any other tests performed, a positive finding suggests the patient is susceptible to potentially fatal ventricular arrhythmias, according to researchers.