Reviewing the week ending March 12, 2010, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• What's going to be hot at ACC 2010?
• "Warranty period" for zero calcium score is at least four years
• Coffee associated with lower risk of arrhythmias
• OLIVUS: Olmesartan reduces atheroma progression?
• Vigorous physical activity modestly more protective than moderate activity

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending March 5, 2010, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• AAA: Aspirin not warranted in healthy subjects with low ABI, based on population screening
• RE-LY subanalysis suggests similar benefit, fewer bleeds with dabigatran in AF patients with prior stroke or TIA
• CREST: Stenting and endarterectomy show similar net safety and efficacy for carotid stenosis
• Experts ponder expanding transcatheter valves indication to lower-risk patients
• COX-2 inhibitors blunt "preconditioning" effect of statin
• Ogling Obama's lipids

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending February 26, 2010, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• Experts debate future of rosiglitazone in the wake of critical Senate report
• Is there too much excitement for ticagrelor?
• ARTS II: DES and CABG have similar death, stroke, and MI out to five years
• Warfarin can be stopped at three to six months postablation of AF, but editorial urges caution
• Un-POPULAR? Utility of platelet-function tests "modest"

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending February 19, 2010, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• Increased risk of diabetes observed among statin-treated patients
• ACC backs cardiologist for Congress, tests political clout at pivotal time for US healthcare
• WSJ argues COURAGE is a missed opportunity for comparative effectiveness savings
• Reassurance on enoxaparin anticoagulation in the cath lab
• Chocolate linked to lower stroke and stroke mortality risk
• President Bill Clinton gets two stents at Columbia

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending February 12, 2010, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• FDA approves expanded rosuvastatin label
• Religion, spirituality not associated with better cardiovascular health
• Cardiologist may score "big" in Ohio whistleblower case
• UK cardiologists petition NICE to reverse dronedarone decision
• Procedure volume is a close proxy for popular hospital quality rankings

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending February 5, 2010, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• Déjà vu? Experts debate new data on diuretic/CCB combo and MI risk
• No time like the present: Study supports early mitral-valve repair in asymptomatic patients
• The atrial septal pouch—a new source of thrombus?
• Study finds delaying surgery after PCI prevents kidney injury
• Ripe for change: US ponders populationwide salt-reduction policies

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending January 29, 2010, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• How to get "clinically significant" randomized trials
• Obesity by any measure linked to increased ischemic-stroke risk
• Red yeast rice comparable to pravastatin for statin-intolerant patients
• Same weight loss, better BP with low-carb diet vs drug/diet combo
• New data prompt renewed calls for public-health initiative to cut salt in US diet

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending January 22, 2010, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• US healthcare reform bills inspire fear and hope in cardiologists
• PLATO-Invasive in print, with new data on stent thrombosis for ticagrelor
• TAVI has low acute renal injury rate, compares favorably with surgical valve replacement
• Acceptable primary-PCI delay time may depend on patient baseline risk
• ADA exalts HbA_1c for diabetes diagnosis, updates aspirin recommendations

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending January 15, 2010, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• Most Americans overweight, and one-third are obese: NHANES
• Panel to FDA: Nebivolol shouldn't be approved for chronic heart failure
• Prasugrel "economically attractive" treatment based on cost-effectiveness analysis
• First look at effects of resting heart rate and exercise on heart-disease deaths
• Additional rest SPECT test found unnecessary in patients with normal stress SPECT

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending January 8, 2010, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• A year to remember: AHA picks top 10 studies for 2009
• One in five heart-transplant patients get skin cancer within five years
• Strongest evidence yet that Lp(a) causes heart disease
• Largest-ever meta-analysis finds CRP is unlikely to be causal for CVD
• VTACH: Ablation before ICD reduces recurrence of ventricular tachycardia

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending December 18, 2009, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• First randomized study of endovascular aortic repair offers more questions, few answers
• High-dose statin therapy reduces recurrent cardiovascular events
• FDA advisory panel votes in favor of broadened rosuvastatin indication
• Intensive medical therapy in asymptomatic carotid stenosis helps reduce microemboli and CV risk

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending December 11, 2009, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• Lower CETP activity associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease

• Enhanced response to clopidogrel predicts bleeding risks among PCI patients

• Mounting debate over aspirin use in primary prevention should prompt new talks with patients

• One in five dialysis patients undergoing PCI get contraindicated meds . . . with more bleeding

• Intensive statin therapy in ACS patients treated with PCI reduces CV events, TVR

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending December 4, 2009, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• Keep clopidogrel-PPI interaction in perspective; expert predicts more to come from the FDA
• Intensive statin therapy in ACS patients treated with PCI reduces CV events, TVR
• "Flaws" seen in studies claiming added value to new CV risk predictors
• Lower CETP activity associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease
• ICD-recipient anxiety high at first, improved over a year—shocks or not

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending November 27, 2009, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• ALLHAT investigators report 10-year follow-up and stand by diuretics as first step antihypertensive treatment
• Oral anticoagulants REDEEMed? Daily dabigatran "safe" with dual antiplatelets after MI
• Vitamin D: A potential role in cardiovascular disease prevention
• SCD-HeFT analysis confirms how ICDs saved lives, intrigues with NYHA class 3 data
• CT-STAT: CT angiography rules out CAD faster and cheaper than standard care

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

Reviewing the week ending November 20, 2009, we highlight the following heartwire articles from the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association:

• ACC/AHA focused update of guidelines for STEMI, PCI
• Cardiologists shocked by new FDA alert on clopidogrel-PPI interaction
• HEAAL: High-dose trumps low-dose ARB for heart failure in the ACE-inhibitor intolerant
• FAIR-HF: Symptom improvement, functional gains follow correction of iron deficiency in heart failure
• Good news continues for ticagrelor in PLATO STEMI subanalysis
• CHAMPION: Negative trials but some positive angles for cangrelor?
• ARBITER 6-HALTS: HDL raising with niacin superior to ezetimibe

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.

From the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• Statins do not eliminate risk of low HDL-cholesterol levels
• RE-LY: Post hoc analysis confirms benefit of dabigatran relative to warfarin at all INR levels
• CDC data show LDL screening rate remains stagnant; many who could benefit go without lipid-lowering drugs
• JCHF: Are low doses of carvedilol effective in heart failure?
• ACC/AHA focused update of guidelines for STEMI, PCI
• Baseline function data from STICH no help in pinpointing patients who benefit from SVR
• CT-STAT: CT angiography rules out CAD faster and cheaper than standard care
• Ticagrelor effects unraveled in new phase 2 trials

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists today.

From the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association on Tuesday, November 17, 2009, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• Cangrelor in CHAMPION: What went wrong?
• Massachusetts data show similar STEMI PCI outcomes in hospitals with or without surgery
• RECORD AF: Better success with rhythm control, but no difference in outcomes
• Postop anemia in high-CV-risk patients: No CV gains from fixed hemoglobin target in trial
• Bypassing the blues: How simple collaborative care can help tackle depression after CABG surgery
• HeartMate II continuous-flow VAD sets new benchmark in destination-therapy trial
• FAIR-HF: Symptom improvement, functional gains follow correction of iron deficiency in heart failure
• HEAAL: High-dose trumps low-dose ARB for heart failure in the ACE-inhibitor intolerant
• CASCADE: No significant benefit of clopidogrel in reducing graft disease after CABG
• POPE: No benefit of diclofenac on pericardial effusion

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists today.

From the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association on Monday, November 16, 2009, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• PACE: BiV pacing protects against RV pacing's adverse ventricular effects in randomized trial
• ARBITER 6-HALTS: HDL raising with niacin superior to ezetimibe
• Good news continues for ticagrelor in PLATO STEMI subanalysis
• PRINCE: Prehospital intranasal cooling after cardiac arrest feasible, may improve survival
• REPLACE registry finds 15.3% six-month complication rate with pacer and ICD lead replacements
• Plasma renin activity associated with cardiovascular events and mortality in HOPE

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists today.

From the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association on Sunday, November 15, 2009, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• POPULARity contest: For platelet function assays, what works, what doesn't
• PEPCAD-3: Paclitaxel-coated-balloon/stent system misses mark in de novo coronary lesions
• FRANCE: Transcatheter-valve registry permits "observation" of CoreValve, Sapien differences
• Canadian confusion: Primary-care docs lack knowledge of CVD risk factors, prevention
• Two-year EXPIRA results suggest mechanical aspiration with primary PCI may reduce mortality
• Experienced operators can switch easily and rapidly to radial-access PCI: RAPTOR
• CHAMPION: Negative trials but some positive angles for cangrelor?

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists today.

Reviewing the week ending November 13, 2009, we highlight the following heartwire articles:

• What's going to be hot at AHA 2009?
• Walking speed predicts CV mortality in older people
• No benefits of aspirin for primary prevention in diabetics, meta-analysis suggests
• Latest European and US STEMI guidelines compared and contrasted
• Low-cholesterol/cancer studies should "dispel lingering doubts" of causal link

Join us for an audio recap of the news that is important to cardiologists this week.