Physicians who prescribe a combination of two antihypertensive drugs to their patients may want to be extra vigilant if non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are added to a patient’s regimen. A study published Jan. 8 in BMJ found a triple therapy combination was associated with increased risk of acute kidney injury, with a twofold increased risk in the first 30 days of use.

Many years from now we may look back at a three-page perspectives article and say: Of course, it is so obvious. But just as the campaign to reduce inhospital infections by integrating hand-washing protocols into caregivers’ practice required time to grow from idea to action, a hypothesis proposed in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine by Yale cardiologist Harlan M. Krumholz may be decades away from reducing hospital readmissions.

Hospital readmissions appear to be an intractable problem, despite efforts to curb rates using interventions, penalties and other strategies. Perhaps providers and public policy leaders are focusing on the wrong target, Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, told Cardiovascular Business. His hypothesis was published Jan. 10 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The most common adverse effects associated with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) are heart block, vascular complications and renal failure. However, Prateek J. Khatri, MD, lead author of the study, told Cardiovascular Business that the CoreValve had a complication rate of 25 percent, compared with 5 percent with the Sapien valve, for the most common complication of heart block, despite a newer-generation CoreValve device used the majority of the time.

The FDA has approved lomitapide (Juxtapid, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals) to reduce cholesterol in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, but the drug's labeling included a boxed warning citing the risk of liver toxicity.

A large clinical trial that compared extended-release niacin and laropiprant plus statin therapy with statin therapy alone was halted because it failed to meet its primary endpoint.

AstraZeneca and its cholesterol drug Crestor have temporarily fended off competitors with a favorable court ruling. The pharmaceutical maker announced that a federal court declared a substance patent for rosuvastatin calcium, the active ingredient in Crestor, is valid and enforceable.

CardioSCORE, a diagnostic blood test designed to improve risk prediction of major cardiovascular events beyond traditional risk factor assessments, has received CE Mark approval in Europe.