Diffusion tensor MR scans revealed subtle injuries in the brains of high school football and hockey players who took routine hits to the headeven if they did not suffer a concussion, according to a study published online Nov. 12 in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. "The study is preliminary, but raises powerful questions about the consequences of the mildest head injury among youths with developing brains," said Jeffrey Bazarian, MD, MPH, associate professor of emergency medicine at University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y.

Longer-term LDL-cholesterol lowering statin therapies can greatly reduce vascular events, according to the results of the Heart Protection Study (HPS) published Nov. 23 in The Lancet. Additionally, researchers found that even after the study treatments were stopped, the benefits lasted for at least five years without any emerging dangers.

Patients with stable cardiovascular disease who carry the CYP2C19*2 heterozygotes and were administered 225 mg daily doses of clopidogrel responded at levels seen in noncarriers, according to results of the ELEVATE-TIMI 56 trial. But carriers of CYP2C19*2 homozygotes given 300 mg daily doses failed to achieve comparable levels of platelet reactivity. The results appeared online first Nov. 16 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

ORLANDO, Fla.When ATLAS-ACS2 was unveiled Nov. 13 at the American Heart Association (AHA) conference, showing a 38 percent reduction in mortality benefit for cardiovascular death with the use of a low dose of rivaroxaban (Xarelto) out to two years, the cardiovascular community sat up and took notice. Since questions remain about appropriate dosing and bleeding rates, ACC President David R. Holmes Jr., MD, explained some of those considerations to Cardiovascular Business.

ORLANDO, Fla.AIM-HIGH, a late-breaking clinical trial presented at this years American Heart Association (AHA) scientific sessions, received a great deal of criticism for its design from its discussant, Philip Barter, MD, PhD; however, lead investigator William E. Boden, MD, strongly defended the design, even though he acknowledged to Cardiovascular Business that the results of the prematurely stopped trial will not change practice.

ORLANDO, Fla.Adnan Kastrati, MD, principal investigator of ISAR REACT 4, sat down with Cardiovascular Business to discuss the results of the late-breaking clinical trial presented at the 2011 American Heart Association (AHA) conference, as well as how the ISAR trials have impacted interventional cardiology practice.

Both rosuvastatin (Crestor, AstraZeneca) and atorvastin (Lipitor, Pfizer) at maximum dose lowered LDL cholesterol levels,  raised HDL levels and reduced atherosclerotic plaque in the SATURN trial, the studys lead researcher reported Nov. 15 at the 2011 American Heart Association (AHA) conference. While the Phase 2 clinical trial failed to find any significant difference between the two drugs ability to limit or reverse progression of coronary artery disease, it showed that a high-dose regime is safe and well tolerated.

ORLANDO, Fla.Jay Traverse, MD, principal investigator of LateTIME, a trial presented Nov. 14 at the American Heart Association (AHA) conference, spoke with Cardiovascular Business about the trial, in addition to the potential role of cell therapy in cardiovascular care.