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Betibeglogene Autotemcel Suspension (Zynteglo)
The FDA has approved the first cell-based gene therapy to treat adult and pediatric patients with beta-thalassemia who require regular blood transfusions.
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Hot Trials from the European Society of Cardiology Annual Congress
Below are some highlights from four key studies presented in Barcelona, Spain, between Aug. 26 and Aug. 29, 2022, along with Dr. Crawford’s personal commentary on each.
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REVIVED Shows No PCI Benefit for Patients with Coronary Disease, Reduced EF
Researchers randomly assigned patients with an ejection fraction ≤ 35% and severe coronary disease to percutaneous coronary intervention or optimal medical therapy alone. After 3.4 years median follow-up, researchers noted no significant differences between groups in terms of all-cause death or heart failure hospitalization.
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Statins Plus Ezetimibe vs. Statins Alone
A comparison of rosuvastatin 10 mg/day plus ezetimibe (10 mg/day) to 20 mg/day of rosuvastatin alone showed non-inferiority in three-year major cardiovascular outcomes, with lower LDL cholesterol levels and fewer episodes of drug discontinuation or dose reductions in the combination therapy group.
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Importance of Discordant Grading of Moderate Aortic Stenosis
A study of patients with moderate aortic stenosis by Doppler echocardiographic calculated valve area revealed 40% exhibit discordant measures, where pressure gradient is lower than expected. These patients died more often than those with concordant measurements, especially those where the discrepancy was caused by low flow.
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Fraud Allegations Involving Alzheimer’s Disease Study Raise Concerns
In a paper published in 2006, the authors provided evidence indicating accumulation of a specific form of beta-amyloid protein was a cause of Alzheimer’s disease. However, recent accusations suggest images allegedly were altered, raising doubts about the initial conclusions. Regardless of what happened, this case has jumpstarted a conversation about instituting more preventive measures, conducting faster investigations into fraud allegations, and levying more severe consequences for researchers found guilty of misconduct.
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Abortion Providers and Patients Under Threat of Privacy Breaches
Reproductive health providers and people seeking abortion care need only look at the not-so-distant past in the United States to predict a future in which their privacy is in legal and physical jeopardy. Physicians who perform legal abortions also face privacy breaches that place the providers and families at risk from doxing, threats, and other harms.
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Providers Can Take Action to Help Prevent Doxing
Increasingly, doctors who provide abortion care are being harassed and vilified through doxing — the online dissemination of their personal information. From July to December 2018, researchers studied a sample of documents posted on an anti-abortion website and found a large percentage of photographs, home addresses, bankruptcy documents, and other personal information.
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Self-Administered Depo-Provera Improves Use and Efficacy
Depo-Provera is a convenient option for patients who want a contraceptive that is both effective and can last for several months. But one drawback is that it requires a clinic visit for an injection. This is where an option to self-administer Depo could improve access to and continuation of the contraceptive.
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Declining Pregnancy Among U.S. Teens Partly Due to Contraceptive Changes
Pregnancies and births in young people, ages 14 to 18 years, have declined dramatically in recent years when compared to decades past, new research shows. Researchers studied data from 2007 to 2017 and found that delays in first sexual intercourse contributed the most to the trend of declining births over this decade. But declines in the number of sexual partners and changes in contraceptive use — including use of long-acting reversible contraception — also contributed to the trend.