Drones have been used to kill people in war zones and to spy on people. Now a sharp young graduate student in the Netherlands has come up with an innovative new use for drones that could one day help save thousands of lives. Click here to read the full post on Forbes. [youtubevid id=”y-rEI4bezWc”] …
Grad Student Invents Flying Ambulance Drone To Deliver Emergency Shocks
October 29, 2014 by Leave a Comment
FDA Panel Gives Cautious Endorsement To Novel Boston Scientific Device
October 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The FDA’s Circulatory System Devices advisory panel gave an extremely cautious endorsement on Wednesday to Boston Scientific’s Watchman device, a novel catheter-delivered left atrial appendage closure device for people with atrial fibrillation. They signaled that although they thought the device should be made available they also thought that there should be significant restrictions on its use. … Click here…
Novel Boston Scientific Device Headed For Another Rough FDA Panel
October 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
On Wednesday Boston Scientific’s Watchman device will once again appear before the FDA’s Circulatory System Devices advisory panel. The Watchman is a novel catheter-delivered left atrial appendage closure device which is intended to be used in place of chronic warfarin therapy to lower the risk of stroke in people with atrial fibrillation. It has been under development for more than…
Counterintuitive Advice About Staying Alive After A Heart Attack
September 21, 2014 by 1 Comment
… An interventional cardiologist– the cardiologists who put in stents and usually treat heart attack patients in the first few hours– asked an electrophysiologist– the cardiologists who treat arrhythmias– whether wearable defibrillators should be used post-MI. Here’s what that electrophysiologist, Edward J. Schloss, the medical director of cardiac electrophysiology at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, OH, replied….
SIGNIFY Trial Provokes Sound And Fury Over Controversial Servier and Amgen Drug
August 31, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The controversial drug ivabradine just got a little more controversial. The drug, which is marketed by Servier under the brand names of Corlentor and Procoralan, is available in Europe and elsewhere and is used for the treatment of heart failure and stable angina. The drug is not available in the US, but it is under development by Amgen for a heart…
Silencio! Claiming Pressure From European Regulators, Trial Leaders Cancel Press Conference
August 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Investigators of the much-anticipated and controversial SIGNIFY trial have told the European Society of Cardiology leadership that they will not participate in a previously scheduled press conference on Sunday at the society’s main meeting in Barcelona. But they say they will present the main results of their trial at a Hot Line session later in the afternoon….
Increased Heart Risk Linked To Popular Antibiotic
August 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Acute use of the popular macrolide antibiotic clarithromycin has been linked to a small but significant increase in cardiac death. In a report in the BMJ, researchers in Denmark analyzed the effects over a 14-year period of the acute use of penicillin V, roxithromycin, and clarithromycin. Earlier research raised concerns that marcrolide antibiotics in general, and erythromycin and azithromycin in particular,…
Study Offers Little Support for an Old Drug
August 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Digoxin is one of the oldest drugs in the cardiovascular arsenal, derived from the foxglove plant and first described in the 18th century by William Withering. It is frequently used in patients with heart failure (HF) and with atrial fibrillation (AF). The few trials supporting its use were performed in HF patients before newer treatments…
Death By Running: It’s The Heat And Not The Heart
July 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The growing popularity of marathons and other extreme sports has sparked worries about the potential dangers of these activities. The popular press and medical research have both focused on the risk of cardiac arrest and other heart rhythm problems. But that concern may be misdirected. A new study from Israel published in the Journal of the American…
More Questions Raised About Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa
July 23, 2014 by 1 Comment
Once again dabigatran (Pradaxa) has raised the wrath of the critics. Several articles and an editorial published today in The BMJ raise more questions and concerns about the drug, which is the first of the new oral anticoagulants. Relying on new evidence along with previously disclosed data, Deborah Cohen, the investigations editor for The BMJ, casts doubt on the reliability…
ESC Hot Lines: First Real Data On Promising Novartis Heart Failure Drug
July 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The first real details about the much-anticipated novel new heart failure drug from Novartis will kick off this year’s Hot Line sessions at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona, Spain. The meeting runs from August 30 until September 3. As I have previously reported, the PARADIGM-HF trial was stopped because of a highly statistically significant reduction…
Yet Another Delay For Boston Scientific’s Watchman Device
June 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Boston Scientific hopes the third time will be the charm. The company disclosed on Tuesday yet another obstacle in the path to approval for its novel Watchman left atrial appendage closure device for the prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. Although it has already been before two FDA advisory panels, the company said…
Prophylactic ICDs Appear Effective In Less Severe HF Patients
June 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment
ICDs are routinely implanted in heart failure patients with ejection fractions (EFs) of 35% and lower to prevent sudden cardiac death. However, the benefits in patients at the higher end of the spectrum– between 30% and 35%– have not been well demonstrated in clinical trials, since few patients in this range have been enrolled in…
Hospitalizations For Atrial Fibrillation Are On The Rise
May 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common heart rhythm disorder. Although it is sometimes thought to be relatively benign, AF increases the risk of stroke if untreated. Even if treated, it can be the source of significant discomfort and can contribute to additional complications, especially…
Exercise: Can There Be Too Much Of A Good Thing?
May 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
In recent years researchers have developed a more complicated view of the relationship of health and exercise. Although observational studies have consistently shown that some physical activity is better than none, studies that have drilled deeper into the data suggest that these health benefits may be curtailed in people who exercise very frequently or very…
FDA Study Provides Some Reassurance About Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa
May 13, 2014 by 1 Comment
In the latest development in its ongoing review of the new oral anticoagulant dabigatran (Pradaxa, Boehringer Ingelheim), the FDA today offered largely reassuring news about the sometimes controversial drug. The FDA study of 134,000 Medicare patients found that dabigatran was associated with a reduced risk for ischemic stroke, bleeding in the brain, and death, compared to warfarin….
Routine Shock Testing Not Required During ICD Implantation
May 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment
When cardiologists implant defibrillators in patients at high risk of dying from a heart rhythm disorder they nearly always perform a defibrillation test in which they induce a lethal arrhythmia, ventricular fibrillation, to make sure the device accurately detects the arrhythmia and terminates it with an appropriate shock. But routine defibrillation testing has never been…
MADIT-CRT Long-Term Follow-Up Shows Survival Benefit with CRT-D
March 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment
MADIT-CRT was an influential trial that showed a reduction in heart failure complications — but not mortality — when cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) was added to an implantable defibrillator in patients with mild heart failure who also had left bundle-branch block (LBBB). Patients in the trial were followed for 2.4 years, raising questions about the…
New Atrial Fibrillation Guideline Supports New Drugs And Devices
March 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
A new guideline for atrial fibrillation (AF) was released on Friday by the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the Heart Rhythm Society. Among other features, the 2014 Guideline for the Management of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation incorporates important new information about the new oral anticoagulants and catheter ablation for the treatment…
Guest Post: How Sure Can We Be About Optisure?
March 28, 2014 by 2 Comments
Editor’s Note: The following guest post is published with the permission of its author, Edward J. Schloss, MD, (Twitter ID @EJSMD) the medical director of cardiac electrophysiology at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, OH. How Sure Can We Be About Optisure? by Edward J. Schloss, MD On March 24, St. Jude Medical announced the global launch…
Warfarin Benefits Extended To Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease
March 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Anticoagulation is a cornerstone of therapy for atrial fibrillation because it lowers the heightened risk for stroke in this population. People with chronic kidney disease are also at increased risk for stroke, but the benefits of anticoagulation are less clear in this group, and anticoagulation is used less often in AF patients who have CKD….
FDA Approves New Catheter For Treatment Of Atrial Fibrillation
February 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The FDA has granted marketing approval for the Thermocool Smarttouch ablation catheter for use in patients with drug-resistant paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), sustained monomorphic ischemic ventricular tachycardia and Type I atrial flutter. The device is manufactured by Biosense Webster, a Johnson & Johnson company. … Click here to read the full post on Forbes. …
Artery Zapping Little Better Than Drugs In Atrial Fibrillation Patients
February 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder. Although AF is not as lethal as some other arrhythmias, AF patients are at high risk for stroke and other serious complications. AF is also very difficult to treat. Although drugs are ineffective in a large percentage of patients, drugs are considered first line therapy in…
Problems Persist Despite Gains In Oral Anticoagulant Use
January 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Although significant progress has been made in recent years, a new survey from the European Society of Cardiology finds that there are still too many atrial fibrillation patients who are not taking the best medications to reduce their elevated risk of stroke. Many elderly patients are not receiving oral anticoagulants and overall too many patients…
FDA Plans New Safety Assessment Of Dabigatran (Pradaxa)
January 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Since the approval of dabigatran (Pradaxa, Boehringer Ingelheim) in Europe in 2008 and in the US in 2010 there have been persistent and lingering concerns about the drug’s safety. Now the FDA plans to perform a large new assessment of the drug compared to warfarin. n December 30 the FDA posted a request for public comment on a…
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