Clinical

This channel newsfeed includes clinical content on treating patients or the clinical implications in a variety of cardiac subspecialties and disease states. The channel includes news on cardiac surgery, interventional cardiologyheart failure, electrophysiologyhypertension, structural heart disease, use of pharmaceuticals, and COVID-19.   

SGLT2 inhibitors tied to ketoacidosis, limb amputation in diabetics

An observational study of nearly 35,000 Scandinavian patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) has found sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, a class of prescription drugs approved by the FDA to lower blood sugar in adults with T2D, may almost double patients’ risks of lower limb amputation and diabetic ketoacidosis compared to glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) receptor agonists.

Statin, antiplatelet prescriptions lag for PAD patients at risk of stroke

Heart patients with symptoms of peripheral artery disease (PAD) continue to see low rates of prescriptions for antiplatelets, statins and ACE inhibitors, despite those drugs’ potential to prevent against major events like stroke, according to research published Nov. 15 in Stroke.

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Machine learning-based ASCVD risk calculator outperforms ACC/AHA standard

A machine learning-based risk calculator developed to assess an individual’s long-term risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) identified 13 percent more high-risk patients and recommended unnecessary statin therapy 25 percent less often than standard risk assessment tools in initial tests, researchers reported in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

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Atrial septostomy, earlier arterial switch operations linked to improved survival

A new study published in Circulation emphasized the importance of prompt arterial switch operations (ASOs) for infants with transposition of the great arteries, as neonates more than 6 days old were 90 percent more likely to die in the perioperative period.

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Why ‘rapid and complete recovery’ in Takotsubo patients is a misleading myth

The idea of “rapid and complete recovery” in Takotsubo patients is a myth, according to research published in the Nov. 7 edition of the European Heart Journal—and it’s one physicians should be paying more attention to.

Severe migraines could signal elevated risk for AFib, stroke

A decades-long study of patients who have migraines with visual aura has linked the painful headaches to an increased risk of experiencing atrial fibrillation and, to a lesser degree, stroke, researchers report in the online edition of Neurology.

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Even ‘intermittent’ exposure to Western lifestyle leads to BP increases

A study of two neighboring communities living in the remote Venezuelan rainforest is poking holes in the idea that blood pressure inevitably increases with age.

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Low-dose methotrexate fails to reduce cardiovascular events

Results of the CIRT trial presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions dimmed hopes that low-dose methotrexate can reduce cardiovascular events but furthered researchers’ understanding of which inflammation-targeting therapies might succeed in that regard.

Around the web

Several key trends were evident at the Radiological Society of North America 2024 meeting, including new CT and MR technology and evolving adoption of artificial intelligence.

Ron Blankstein, MD, professor of radiology, Harvard Medical School, explains the use of artificial intelligence to detect heart disease in non-cardiac CT exams.