Structural Heart Disease

Structural heart diseases include any issues preventing normal cardiovascular function due to damage or alteration to the anatomical components of the heart. This is caused by aging, advanced atherosclerosis, calcification, tissue degeneration, congenital heart defects and heart failure. The most commonly treated areas are the heart valves, in particular the mitral and aortic valves. These can be replaced through open heart surgery or using cath lab-based transcatheter valves or repairs to eliminate regurgitation due to faulty valve leaflets. This includes transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Other common procedures include left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion and closing congenital holes in the heart, such as PFO and ASD. A growing area includes transcatheter mitral repair or replacement and transcatheter tricuspid valve repair and replacement.

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AstraZeneca resolves Crestor’s legal battle

AstraZeneca settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Watson Laboratories, Actavis and EGIS Pharmaceuticals over the active ingredient in its cholesterol drug, Crestor.

EU’s committee backs rivaroxaban for ACS

The EU’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use adopted a new indication for a new strength of the anticoagulant rivaroxaban for the prevention of atherothrombotic events in adults after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) with elevated cardiac biomarkers. 

AHA guide helps communities tackle heart disease

The American Heart Association (AHA) released a guide to help policy makers and providers whittle away at the problems of heart disease and stroke at a community level. The 25-page guide was published online March 21 in Circulation.

Panel bucks FDA and favors MitraClip

The FDA’s Circulatory System Devices Panel gave the MitraClip clip delivery system (Abbott) a thumbs up on March 20 in its request for premarket approval, despite concerns detailed by the agency in its summary documents.

‘Statins on steroids’ may increase renal risks

Taking high-potency statins may increase the risk of acute kidney injury, according to an analysis of more than 2 million newly treated patients. Based on the results, physicians should err toward lower-dose statins, two editorial writers suggested. The study and editorial were published online March 19 in BMJ.

Peptide levels may predict cardiovascular events

The mean pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP A) levels of patients who presented with chest pain at a hospital were higher in patients who went on to have a cardiovascular event within 90 days than in patients who did not have an event.

Diabetes costs: 1 in every 10 healthcare dollars

The economic cost of diagnosed diabetes totaled $245 billion in 2012, according to an analysis by the American Diabetes Association. The 41 percent increase from 2007 costs was fueled by a spike in diabetes prevalence.

FDA investigates pancreatic toxicity with diabetes drug class

The FDA is evaluating unpublished new findings by a group of academic researchers that suggest an increased risk of pancreatitis and precancerous cellular changes called pancreatic duct metaplasia in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with a class of drugs called incretin mimetics. These findings were based on exam of a small number of pancreatic tissue specimens taken from patients after they died from unspecified causes.

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