Clinical Cardiology
RSSArticles
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Effect of Atrial Fibrillation Catheter Ablation on Psychological Well-Being
A randomized trial of catheter ablation vs. medical therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF) patients has shown that anxiety and depression scores are significantly reduced by catheter ablation and are associated with decreases in AF burden and improved physical symptoms.
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Long-Term Antiplatelet Therapy After PCI
The five-year follow-up of patients randomized to clopidogrel vs. aspirin monotherapy beyond one year after percutaneous coronary intervention has shown that clopidogrel is noninferior, but not superior, to aspirin for preventing the combined endpoint of adverse cardiovascular or major bleeding events.
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PFO Closure Review Shows High Proportion of Off-Label Use
In this retrospective cohort study using administrative data from a U.S. payor source, only 58.6% of patients undergoing patent foramen ovale closure had the procedure done for the approved indication of stroke or systemic embolism. A significant proportion of patients were outside the recommended age range.
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Do Patients Feel Better After Tricuspid Valve Clipping?
A further analysis of the quality-of-life parameters in a trial of tricuspid transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (T-TEER) in patients with severe symptomatic tricuspid regurgitation vs. medical therapy alone has shown that T-TEER is associated with significant benefits in physical functioning and quality of life that are sustained for one year and were proportional to the magnitude of regurgitation reduction.
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Does Anyone with Severe Aortic Stenosis Not Benefit from TAVR?
A single-center, retrospective study of low-flow low-gradient aortic stenosis patients has shown that a gradient < 20 mmHg identifies a high-risk group because of significant comorbidities that may not benefit from transcutaneous aortic valve replacement.
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Risk Factors for Atrial Fibrillation
A United Kingdom Biobank study of new onset atrial fibrillation (AF) has shown strong associations with hypertension and obesity at all ages and acute illnesses/surgery in older individuals. Genetics was less important, but in those at low genetic risk, obesity and hypertension were strong predictors of AF.
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To Stress Test or Not Post-PCI
A prespecified subgroup analysis of diabetic patients in the POST-PCI study, which randomized patients post-percutaneous coronary intervention to routine stress testing vs. standard care at one year and followed for two years, has shown that adverse cardiac outcomes and death rates were not improved by routine stress testing.
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Long-Term Follow-Up Confirms Efficacy of Invasive Strategy in Very Old Patients with Non-ST Elevation ACS
In this long-term analysis of patients in the After Eighty Study, with a mean age of 85 years and non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome, an invasive strategy showed a reduction in a composite endpoint of major adverse cardiovascular events and was associated with a significant improvement in event-free survival compared with a conservative approach.
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Safety and Tolerability of Inclisiran
A pooled analysis of seven relatively short-term ORION studies of inclisiran vs. placebo for lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol that assessed safety and tolerability for up to six years showed that inclisiran has similar rates of adverse events, excluding injection site reactions, as placebo treatment and is associated with fewer major adverse cardiovascular events.
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Do Patients with Heart Failure Feel Better on Dapagliflozin?
An analysis of the DETERMINE studies of dapagliflozin vs. placebo in patients with heart failure showed some improvement in self-reported symptoms in those with reduced ejection fraction on dapagliflozin but not in the six-minute walk test. No improvements in symptoms or physical activity levels were found in those with preserved ejection fraction on dapagliflozin.