Cardiology News RSS feed: Current Issue. CARDIOLOGY NEWS is an independent newspaper that provides the practicing specialist with timely and relevant news and commentary about clinical developments in the field and about the impact of health care policy on the specialty and the physician's practice.http://www.ecardiologynews.com/?rss=yesElsevier Inc.en © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Cardiology News1544-880083March 2010 © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. healthpermissions@elsevier.comhttp://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700828/abstract?rss=yesThe approval of the HeartMate II, the continuous-flow left ventricular assist device, has been expanded to include its use as destination therapy for people with severe heart failure who are not acceptable candidates for heart transplantation.HeartMate II Approved As Destination TherapyELIZABETH MECHCATIE10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70082-8Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8News11http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS154488001070083X/abstract?rss=yesImplantable loop recorders play an increasingly important role in assessing patients for syncope, say several experts as well as the most recent syncope guidelines, released by the European Society of Cardiology last August.Implanted Loop Recorder Aids in Unexplained Syncope DiagnosisMITCHEL L. ZOLER10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70083-XCardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8News11http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700841/abstract?rss=yes DR. GOLDSTEIN, medical editor of Cardiology News, is professor of medicine at Wayne State University and division head emeritus of cardiovascular medicine at Henry Ford Hospital, both in Detroit.Getting CME Back on TrackSIDNEY GOLDSTEIN10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70084-1Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Heart of the Matter22http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700853/abstract?rss=yesThe article “Congenital Disease Survival to Adulthood at 89%” (February 2010, page 11) should have stated that survival (not mortality) in the 1990–1999 group during follow-up was 99% in patients with mild congenital heart disease, 90% in those with moderate disease, and 59% in patients with a complex abnormality.Correction10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70085-3Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8News22http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700865/abstract?rss=yesOlmesartan was approved in February for treating hypertension in young people aged 6–16 years, based on a study of 302 children and adolescents. In the randomized, double-blind study (87% had essential hypertension), those who weighed 20–34 kg were randomized to 2.5 or 20 mg of olmesartan once daily, and those who weighed more were randomized to 5 or 40 mg of the angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) daily for 3 weeks. All patients were then randomized to continue receiving olmesartan daily or switched to a placebo for up to 2 weeks.Another ARB Gains Approval for Pediatric HypertensionELIZABETH MECHCATIE10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70086-5Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8News33http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700877/abstract?rss=yes Major Finding: Hemoglobin A1c values below 7.5% were associated with increased all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events.HbA1c Below 7.5%, More DeathsMIRIAM E. TUCKER10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70087-7Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8News66http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700889/abstract?rss=yesIn addition to its other approved indications, rosuvastatin can now be used as a primary prevention in reducing the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and arterial revascularization procedures.FDA Approves Statin for Primary PreventionELIZABETH MECHCATIE10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70088-9Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8News77http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700890/abstract?rss=yesFORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — The use of ventricular assist devices in U.S. children jumped by 32% during the mid-2000s, a trend that reflects changes in the management of severe pediatric heart failure.More Children Getting Ventricular Assist DevicesMITCHEL L. ZOLER10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70089-0Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8News88http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700907/abstract?rss=yesSNOWMASS, COLO. — The added value of using a drug-eluting stent rather than a bare-metal one in primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-elevation MI may be marginal at best.Drug-Eluting Stents for Primary PCI Superfluous?BRUCE JANCIN10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70090-7Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Interventional Cardiology1313http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700919/abstract?rss=yesSNOWMASS, COLO. — CT angiography has rapidly emerged as the most cost-effective imaging technique to exclude acute coronary syndrome in the emergency department. The overall diagnostic accuracy of CT angiography (CTA) is essentially equivalent to that of SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging, its main competition. But CTA is the clear winner in terms of time to diagnosis and cost, Dr. Christopher M. Kramer said at a conference sponsored by the American College of Cardiology.CTA Is Tops for Evaluating Chest Pain in EDBRUCE JANCIN10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70091-9Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Imaging1415http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700920/abstract?rss=yesGAITHERSBURG, MD. — Black box warnings added to the labels of all gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents have reduced the number of reported nephrogenic systemic fibrosis events to almost none in the last year, according to Dr. James Kaiser.Gadolinium Warnings Reduce NSFKERRI WACHTER10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70092-0Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Imaging1515http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700932/abstract?rss=yesSNOWMASS, COLO. — In-hospital mortality owing to left atrial catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation is markedly increased at lower-volume centers, according to a recent analysis of all patients in the Medicare database undergoing the increasingly popular procedure.Catheter Ablation Mortality Is Volume DependentBRUCE JANCIN10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70093-2Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Arrhythmias & Electrophysiology1616http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700944/abstract?rss=yes Major Finding: At 9 months, 66% of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation patients who received radiofrequency catheter ablation were free from treatment failure, compared with 16% of patients who received drug therapy.Ablation Bests Drug Therapy for Refractory Paroxysmal AFMARY ANN MOON10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70094-4Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Arrhythmias & Electrophysiology1616http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700956/abstract?rss=yesSNOWMASS, COLO. — The large multicenter CABANA trial, which is now in the process of recruiting patients, may be the last and best chance to learn if maintaining sinus rhythm confers a survival advantage over rate control in patients with atrial fibrillation.Trial of Catheter Ablation for AF Is Underway: CABANA could resolve the question of which type of control is better for atrial fib: rate or rhythm.BRUCE JANCIN10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70095-6Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Arrhythmias & Electrophysiology1717http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700968/abstract?rss=yesSAN DIEGO — The largest study to date of performing capsule endoscopy in patients with implanted cardiac devices suggests that neither type of device interferes with the other.Capsule Endoscopies Do Not Interfere With Cardiac DevicesSHERRY BOSCHERT10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70096-8Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Arrhythmias & Electrophysiology1717http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS154488001070097X/abstract?rss=yesSAN DIEGO — Statin therapy slashed appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator shocks by 54% and all-cause mortality by 95% in a nonrandomized observational study of patients who had advanced heart failure and were undergoing combined ICD and cardiac resynchronization therapy.Statin Cut ICD Shocks 54% In Heart Failure PatientsBRUCE JANCIN10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70097-XCardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Arrhythmias & Electrophysiology1717http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700981/abstract?rss=yesFORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Combining coronary artery catheterization and cardiac surgery in the same hospital admission was linked to a significantly increased risk for acute kidney injury (AKI), compared with performing the surgery during a second, later hospitalization, a single-center study of more than 600 patients showed.Delaying Surgery After PCI Cuts Kidney InjuryMITCHEL L. ZOLER10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70098-1Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Surgery1818http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010700993/abstract?rss=yesThe use of medical technology has grown dramatically over the last decade, according to the federal government's annual health report. That's just one finding in the massive “Health, United States, 2009,” a snapshot of Americans' health, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compiles yearly as “an essential step in making sound health policy and setting research and program priorities.”Health Report Shows Leap in Technology UseMARY ANN MOON10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70099-3Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Practice Trends2020http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010701007/abstract?rss=yesU.S. hospitals have significantly improved the care they provide for patients with myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia, according to a new report from the Joint Commission.Hospital Quality Measures Continue to ImproveMARY ELLEN SCHNEIDER10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70100-7Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Practice Trends2121http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010701019/abstract?rss=yesThe Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning to Eli Lilly & Co. and United Therapeutics that a Web page and two patient videos were in violation of the agency's promotional rules. Adcirca (tadalafil) is indicated for pulmonary arterial hypertension to improve exercise ability. The FDA cited the Web page for failing to include any contraindications, warnings, or precautions for the drug, which “misleadingly suggests that Adcirca is safer than has been demonstrated,” said the warning letter. The two patient videos “seriously misrepresent what is known about the efficacy of Adcirca,” said the FDA. The agency directed the drug makers to immediately cease dissemination of the offending materials.Policy & Practice: Want more health reform news? Subscribe to our podcast – search ‘Policy & Practice’ in the iTunes storeAlicia Ault10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70101-9Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Practice Trends2121http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010701020/abstract?rss=yesDr. Roberta G. Williams is stepping down as chair of pediatrics at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine and will begin a yearlong sabbatical at the university April 1 to study the economics of life cycle coverage for patients with chronic childhood illnesses.On the BeatJane Locastro10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70102-0Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Practice Trends2223http://www.ecardiologynews.com/article/PIIS1544880010701032/abstract?rss=yesThe federal government has granted states and territories $119 million to reduce tobacco use, increase physical activity, and fight obesity, the Health and Human Services department announced.Grants Focus on Wellness, Smoker ‘Quitlines’Alicia Ault10.1016/S1544-8800(10)70103-2Cardiology News 8, 3 (2010)2010-03-01Cardiology News2010-03-0183S1544-8800(10)X7003-8Practice Trends2222