Oct 20th, 2021 - Elacestrant (RAD1901) monotherapy improved progression-free survival over standard-of-care (SOC) treatment in patients with estrogen receptor (ER)–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, including those whose tumors harbored ESR1 mutations, meeting the primary end points of the phase 3 EMERALD trial (NCT03778931).1 Topline results from the trial also showed that the toxicity profile of the sele...

Oct 19th, 2021 - The American Heart Association warns that progress is slowing in national care for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. (Circulation) FDA's internal deliberations on myocarditis risk will delay its decision on authorizing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents. (Wall Street Journal) Takotsubo syndrome disproportionately affects older women in the U.S., though its incidence is risin...

Oct 19th, 2021 - Following up on its 2007 initiative to improve care for people who have ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the American Heart Association has issued a policy statement that includes a host of recommendations to further overcome barriers to optimal care for this most severe type of heart attack. American Heart Association Dr.

Oct 19th, 2021 - A multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and adults (MIS-A) occurring after coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been identified; onset is ≈4–6 weeks after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (1–3). A case definition for MIS-A has been developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (4); MIS-A after vaccination is rare and remain...

Oct 18th, 2021 - The optimal systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) target for each person may depend on his or her individual risk profile, an observational study suggested. Based on the 33,357-patient ALLHAT trial, there appeared to be a U- or J-shaped association between risk of several cardiovascular events and BP, such that going too low in systolic or diastolic BP was not good for the patient. The nad...

Oct 14th, 2021 - Timely CPR on cardiac arrest patients with known or suspected COVID-19 should take precedence over resuscitators donning personal protective equipment (PPE), the American Heart Association (AHA) outlined in a guidance update. In resuscitation of adults and children, the healthcare provider is now instructed to give rapid chest compressions and to defibrillate as soon as possible without delay f...

Oct 13th, 2021 - Warnings about cardiovascular safety-related issues associated with newly approved anticancer therapies may not be issued for up to 5 years, according to research published in JAMA Oncology. The most common reason for all evaluated black box warnings was, furthermore, cardiovascular disease-related events. Among anticancer therapies approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), includi...

Oct 13th, 2021 - This transcript has been edited for clarity. Dear colleagues, I am Christoph Diener from the faculty of medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. This month I would like to report on several new publications from the European Stroke Organisation on the management and prevention of stroke. Managing Blood Pressure in the First 24 Hours The first study deals with the management of b...

Oct 13th, 2021 - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued voluntary, short-term sodium reduction targets for food manufacturers, chain restaurants, and food service operators for processed, packaged, and prepared foods, with an eye toward reducing diet-related conditions such as heart disease and obesity. According to the FDA, more than 70% of total sodium intake is from sodium added during food man...

Oct 12th, 2021 - Should some individuals at risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease start getting coronary artery calcium scans in their mid-to-late 30s? (Journal of the American College of Cardiology) IV thrombolytics may be safe for stroke patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms, a single-center study found. (Neurology) Major thromboembolism and death were less likely when hospitalized COVID-19...

Oct 12th, 2021 - The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) signaled that aspirin may be appropriate to initiate for primary cardiovascular prevention in some high-risk adults ages 40 to 59, but not for those 60 and older. The draft recommendation statement is a shift from the 2016 guidance, which called for low-dose aspirin for people in their 50s who have a 10% or greater 10-year cardiovascular disease ...

Oct 12th, 2021 - New draft recommendations from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on the use of aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been released and appear to limit the population in which it should be considered.   "The USPSTF concludes with moderate certainty that aspirin use for the primary prevention of CVD events in adults ages 40 to 59 years who have a 10%...

Oct 11th, 2021 - National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued new guidance which recommends inclisiran as an option for treating primary hypercholesterolaemia (heterozygous familial and non-familial) or mixed dyslipidaemia as an adjunct to diet in adults. The treatment is recommended only if: There is a history of any of the following cardiovascular events: Acute coronary syndrome (such a...

Oct 11th, 2021 - A first-line thrombectomy approach that combines contact aspiration and stent retrieval techniques does not significantly improve the reperfusion rate compared to stent retrieval alone in patients with acute ischemic stroke and large-vessel occlusion, a newly published study shows. Dr Bertrand Lapergue However, the trial was likely underpowered, so the question of whether the combined approach ...

Oct 8th, 2021 - Please note that the text below is not a full transcript and has not been copyedited. For more insight and commentary on these stories, subscribe to the This Week in Cardiology podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast provider. In This Week’s Podcast For the week ending October 8, 2021, John Mandrola, MD comments on the following news and features stories. I will be at the ...

Oct 8th, 2021 - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Rectal compliance is lower in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients than in those without UC, but recovery is possible, researchers suggest. "The findings did not surprise us, but supported our hypothesis that patients with UC have reduced compliance of their rectum, even when they are in remission," Dr. David Rubin of the University of Chicago Medicine Inflammatory Bowel...

Oct 8th, 2021 - If eating certain things ― like pizza or French fries ― makes it impossible to sleep at night, it might be because the hefty dose of salt in these foods is disrupting your sleep rhythms. For decades, scientists have advised people to limit consumption of salty foods because of an increased risk for high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes. Some research has linked hypertension to an incr...

Oct 7th, 2021 - The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a drug safety update for tofacitinib (Xeljanz) stating that individuals aged >65 years, current or past smokers or individuals with other cardiovascular or malignancy risk factors should not receive the drug unless no other appropriate treatment alternatives are available. A large, randomised safety trial of tofacitinib (...

Oct 7th, 2021 - For patients with diabetes who have had a stroke, glycated hemoglobin (A1c) level at the time of admission to the hospital was significantly associated with the risk for future vascular events in a new study. The optimum range of admission A1c associated with a minimum risk for vascular events and stroke recurrence was estimated to be between 6.8% and 7.0%. The risk significantly increased abov...

Oct 6th, 2021 - Grace Lu-Yao, PhD Higher survival rates were observed with radical prostatectomy (RP) and adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) compared with radiotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in men with locally advanced prostate cancer, according to a comparative analysis published in Cancer.1,2 Results showed that 10 years after treatment, 89% of men who received radical prostatectomy and RT were st...