A drug designed to increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels failed to reduce the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

As U.S. healthcare trends toward team-based care with greater focus on preventive services, nurses are stepping into leadership roles and producing positive clinical outcomes. However, this shift in cardiovascular care may require an overhaul of cultures and systems by providers—as well as a fresh look at reimbursement.

Medication adherence improves patient outcomes, but U.S. patients generally have low rates of compliance. To help patients stay on top of their dosing regimens, physicians need to identify those most likely to be nonadherent and the reasons for their recalcitrance to implement interventions. But adherence itself bears costs, as do interventions. Payers want proof that strategies are both cost-effective and feasible.

In patients with primary hypercholesterolemia, adding SAR236553 to either 10 mg of atorvastatin or 80 mg of atorvastatin resulted in a significantly greater reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol than that attained with 80 mg of atorvastatin alone, according to a Phase 2, randomized trial.

The FDA has made two lists of customers shipped potentially contaminated products from the New England Compounding Center (NECC) publicly available on its website. Products under investigation include a cardioplegic solution used in surgery.

Reductions in blood pressure in treatment-resistant hypertensive patients who underwent catheter-based renal denervation persisted three years after the procedure, researchers said Oct. 23 at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference in Miami.

MIAMI—Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) continued to hold its lead over medical therapy in patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis, researchers reported Oct. 24 at the 2012 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, in a presentation on the three-year outcomes.

The European Medicines Agency paved the way for approval for rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Bayer/Johnson & Johnson) for treatment of adults with pulmonary embolism (PE) and the prevention of recurrent PE in adults.