BOSTON—Is anti-arrhythmic drug use in ventricular arrhythmia and device patients safe? While the drugs might be useful in some instances, clinicians should not forget about the risks, said Paul Dorian, MD, MSc, during a presentation May 10 at the 33rd annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS).
BOSTON—Implantation of the Watchman device (Boston Scientific) without a warfarin transition is safe and effective in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with contraindications to even short-term oral anticoagulation, according to an analysis of the ASA Plavix registry, presented May 11 as a late-breaking clinical trial at the 33rd annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society.
BOSTON—To hold or not to hold, that may be the question on surgeons' minds as patients present for surgery. Should anticoagulation be continued at the time of surgery or held in fear of thromboembolic risk? According to Michael C. Giudici, MD, of Genesis Heart Institute in Davenport, Iowa, the complication risks may be similar for both options; however, he summed that in most cases anticoagulation can and should be continued.
BOSTON—Dynamic Atrial Overdrive (DAO) does not prevent new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF), is often not well tolerated and increases the risk of premature battery depletion, based on the results of ASSERT, a late-breaking clinical trial presented May 11 at the 33rd annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS). Therefore, the study authors recommended that implantable devices no longer get developed with this software.
Pulmonary vein isolation with radiofrequency ablation is safe for patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) and significantly superior to the current first-line therapy approach of antiarrhythmic drugs, according to trial results presented May 11 at the 33rd annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society.
LAS VEGAS—A simple, low-cost approach of four telephone contacts with patients following drug-eluting stent implantation significantly improves one-year drug adherence of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) to near perfect scores, based on the findings of the single-center, Canadian EASY-IMPACT trial presented May 9 as a scientific poster at the 35th annual meeting of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI).
Drops in patient office visits, non-emergency room hospital admissions and older patients’ use of retail drugs contributed to a decline in the overall per capita utilization of medicine in 2011, according to a report by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. But emergency room admissions rose, all trends that point to higher costs for the healthcare system in the future.
CHICAGO—Six weeks after an acute MI hospital discharge, 27 percent of PCI patients disregarded doctors' orders for medication, according to a poster presented March 26 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session. Medication adherence is a multifaceted problem leaving much room for improvement in patient follow-up after discharge.
Eric D. Peterson, MD, MPH, has been appointed director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), succeeding Robert A. Harrington, MD, and Robert M. Califf, MD, its founder.
CHICAGO—The usage of dabigatran, rivaroxban and apixaban may be associated with a reduction in medical costs when used instead of warfarin—with apixaban “potentially” being associated with the greatest cost reduction, based on an analysis of ARISTOTLE, RE-LY and ROCKET-AF trials, presented March 26 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session.
CHICAGO--A novel monoclonal antibody lowered low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) up to 72 percent in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The results were announced March 26 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology scientific session and simultaneously published online in the
Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
CHICAGO—A popular three-pronged drug approach in Asia that adds chilostazol to dual antiplatelet therapy had comparable outcomes to a double-dose dual antiplatelet regimen, according to the results of the late-breaking HOST-ASSURE clinical trial presented March 25 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session.
CHICAGO—In patients with large anterior STEMI presenting early after symptom onset and undergoing primary PCI with bivalirudin (Angiomax, The Medicines Company) anticoagulation, infarct size at 30 days was significantly reduced by bolus intracoronary abciximab (ReoPro, Eli Lilly) delivered to the infarct lesion site but not by manual aspiration thrombectomy, according to INFUSE-AMI, a late-breaking clinical trial presented March 25 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) scientific session.
CHICAGO—When medical drugs or devices begin to go awry, does the company know beforehand about the potential issues? This is the question Steve E. Nissen, MD, chairman of the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, asked March 24 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session. The presentation aimed to answer one question: When should devices or medicines stop being used in practice?
Adding vorapaxar to aspirin in atherosclerosis patients could help reduce the patient’s risk of cardiovascular (CV) events; however, stroke patients may not be able to reap the benefits, according to a late-breaking clinical trial presented this morning at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session. However, some questioned the drug's safety due to the risk of bleeding found, suggesting that proper patient selection will be imperative.
Odd as it may seem, patients prescribed atorvastatin may face lower co-pays for the brand name Lipitor (Pfizer) than for the generic. In an Ideas and Opinions article published March 12 in the
Annals of Internal Medicine, Lisa Gill and colleagues from
Consumer Reports explored the causes of this topsy-turvy pricing and provided guidance for physicians whose patients require the drugs.
The FDA has assigned a priority review designation to the supplemental New Drug Application filed on Dec. 29, 2011 for rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Janssen Research & Development), an oral anticoagulant, to reduce the risk of thrombotic cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
If California Rep. Brian Bilbray has his way, state inspections will no longer be required for drugs and medical devices that have already been scrutinized at the federal level.
Alex Gorsky, vice chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s executive committee, has been named CEO. He will succeed Bill Weldon, who has served as the company’s CEO and chairman since 2002. Gorsky was nominated for the position at the company’s annual board of directors meeting.
Positron, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Manhattan Isotope Technology (MIT), has executed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Nuclear Research (INR) of Troitsk, Russia. MIT and INR will collaborate on strontium-82 production beginning with a pharmaceutical ingredient validation exercise in 2012.
