Did you know that about half of cardiologists’ $400,000+ average income comes from self-referring patients to undergo imaging studies on scanners owned in part or in whole by the physicians themselves? This type of arrangement violates the spirit but not the letter of the Stark Law, created in 1992 to address the inevitable economic and medical inequities that result when physicians are permitted [… read more]
(image: People’s Pharmacy) Sure to re-light controversy around Pfizer’s varenicline (Chantix): a new study concludes the smoking cessation drug likely carries no increased risk for cardiovascular events. Judith Prochaska and Joan Hilton (University of California – San Francisco) report the results in the May 4 BMJ. Sonal Singh (Johns Hopkins) et al’s previous meta-analysis, reported in CMAJ [… read more]
(image: Hospira) Akihito Hagihara et al present suggestive data in the March 21 JAMA that giving epinephrine to people with out of hospital cardiac arrest increases their chances of making it to the hospital with a pulse, but not of making it home with decent brain function or functional status. In a prospective observational analysis [… read more]
The content here previously has been removed at the request of the American College of Chest Physicians. For the ACCP’s Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of DVT/PE/VTE, 9th edition, please visit the ACCP’s web site. PulmCCM is not affiliated with the ACCP.
The content previously here was removed at the request of the American College of Chest Physicians. For the ACCP 9th edition clinical practice guidelines for prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE), please visit the ACCP website. PulmCCM is not affiliated with ACCP or Chest.
This post was featured on KevinMD.com; an excerpt follows. “Full code” is the universal default status for patients who haven’t chosen otherwise. Yet I suspect most physicians believe this policy is wrong. We feel in our hearts we’re doing harm when we perform CPR on poor souls whose bodies are trying to naturally end their [… read more]
There’s not much data to guide the transfusion of red blood cells. In 1999, there was the beautifully executed and practice-changing Transfusion Requirements in Critical Care (TRICC) trial, which showed that a restrictive transfusion strategy (hemoglobin trigger of 7 g/dL) in ICU patients resulted in a non-stat.significantly lower mortality (19% vs. 23%) compared to a [… read more]
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure (CHF) are common and together contribute enormously to the global burden of chronic disease. Although surely these conditions overlap and interact, surprisingly little study has been given to their interrelationship. Macchia et al prospectively evaluated and followed two cohorts of patients aged > 59, recruited from [… read more]
Did you ever wonder what that police officer is really doing while you wait forever in your car for him to write you your ticket? According to new research, it’s possible he’s taking a quick nap. And you’d best save your snarky comment when he brings you the citation: sleepy cops, it turns out, tend to be [… read more]
One thing I thought I knew was that overweight and obesity cause coronary artery disease and make it worse. People with CAD who are obese should lose weight … right? Recent research shows it’s not that simple (although the answer is still “yes, probably”). Did you know about the “obesity paradox?” Or the “lean paradox,” [… read more]
Daunted by the seeming impossibility of measuring and comparing hospitals on real outcomes (given our primitive state of data collection and heterogeneity in patient populations, among many other challenges), well-meaning bureaucrats and non-profiteering safety advocates like the Institute for Healthcare Improvement have created directives based on surrogate measures in an attempt to standardize and improve [… read more]
This nice (and brief) review article on interpreting elevated troponin levels can be summed up by its quote from cardiologist Robert Jesse: “When troponin was a lousy assay it was a great test, but now that it’s becoming a great assay, it’s getting to be a lousy test.” Troponin abnormality is set at the 99th [… read more]
The smoking cessation drug varenicline (Chantix) got a black-box warning in 2009 after the FDA received >500 reports of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and 32 completed suicides in the U.S. (This was out of several million prescriptions filled, though.) After that postmarketing surprise, the FDA sponsored 2 observational studies in Chantix users: one at the [… read more]
Severe sepsis makes the heart irritable, probably due to all the evil humors and increased cardiac demand. Between 6-20% of patients with severe sepsis develop atrial fibrillation for the first time; that’s old news. What’s been unclear is what new-onset atrial fibrillation in severe sepsis means: is it an expected, yeah-so-what marker of critical illness, [… read more]
Targeted temperature management in critical care: A report and recommendations from five professional societies. Nunnally ME et al. Crit Care Med 2011;39:1113-1125. Hypothermia for cardiac arrest guideline. Hypothermia after cardiac arrest review.
See Update Below: the larger RELAX trial (enrolling patients with less severe pulmonary hypertension) did not show a benefit of sildenafil. Guazzi et al randomized 44 people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and associated pulmonary hypertension (confirmed by right heart catheterization) to receive the phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor sildenafil or placebo for one year, along with [… read more]
Singh et al report in a meta-analysis of 14 randomized trials (n=8,216) that varenicline was associated with an odds ratio of 1.72 for serious cardiovascular events compared to placebo. The absolute increased risk was 0.24% (a number needed to harm of 400, while varenicline has a number needed to treat of ~10 to get one [… read more]
Morales et al queried a database of 53,994 UK asthma patients, finding 1527 who were prescribed beta blockers, 441 with a brand-new prescription. The rate of oral steroid use in the 2 weeks prior to beta-blocker commencement was the same as in the 2 weeks after (0.9%). They did not examine exacerbation rates or steroid [… read more]
Dumas et al prospectively observed 1145 consecutive victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who survived to admission in France between 2000 and 2009. Among VT/VF patients, 65% got therapeutic hypothermia, while 60% of PEA/asystole patients did, with higher proportions receiving hypothermia later in the study period (86 and 73% respectively) . Most people in the PEA/asystole [… read more]
A 44-page guideline from the American Heart Association on the management of massive & submassive pulmonary embolism; proximal deep venous thrombosis, and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Circulation 2011;123:1788-1830. FREE FULL TEXT
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