Often in clinical settings, there are limited opportunities for upward mobility. In fact, the clinical "ladder" in your organization might be a single position---Team Leader---or you might not be climbing at all.
Continue reading A Clinical Ladder in the Procedural Setting
Kaiser Permanente proudly reported last week the increased adoption of their daily statin regimen, but is the increased use of statins positive or negative?
The medication regimen bundles two generic drugs - a cholesterol-lowering statin and a blood pressure-lowering drug in daily doses to patients with diabetes or heart disease.
In 2009, Kaiser Permanente released a study showing that their protocol lowers the chance of hospitalization for heart attack or stroke the following year by more than 60 percent.
Continue reading Can Statins Reduce Heart Risk? – Cardiac News Round-Up
The University of Glasgow presented research at the British Cardiovascular Society's annual conference, yesterday that proves a pressure- and temperature-sensitive wire inserted into a coronary artery after a heart attack can predict heart failure.
The standard assessment, a coronary angiogram, "can only identify narrowed vessels and cannot tell the doctor if, or how much, heart blood vessel damage has occurred," writes Medical News Today. Using the wire, the level of damage to arteries after a heart attack can be assessed in minutes -- a key indicator of high risk for heart failure.
The new assessment could lead to quicker treatment of patients at greatest risk for heart failure and improve outcomes.
Stroke
Thrombolysis Safe in Mild Stroke
Jose G. Romano, MD and colleagues reported in the April issue of JAMA Neurology that few treatment complications were seen when treating patients who experienced mild strokes with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). Mild strokes are defined by an NIHSS score of 5 or less. The study did not address long-term outcomes in the mild-stroke population.
Monitoring Improves NOAC Adherence
Mintu P. Turakhia, MD reported in April issue of JAMA that adherence to new oral anticoagulant (NOAC) dabigatran was highest when pharmacists assisted in monitoring compliance. Dabigatran is one of four fixed-dose NOACs that have been approved as alternatives to warfarin for reducing stroke risk in patients with Afib.
Heart Failure
Ivabradine for Heart Failure Gets FDA Nod
The FDA approved the first new drug for heart failure since 2005---invabradine---approved to "reduce hospitalization from worsening heart failure."
Acute MI
New Strategy can Help Determine Heart Attack in Patients Within One Hour
Results are in from a larger-scale clinical trial for an high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T algorithm (hs-cTnT) which accelerates treatment for patients suspected of having acute MI. The test allows for safe rule-out and 75 percent accurate rule-in. ACVP blog discussed a similar, gender-specific test in January, which found that high-sensitivity is necessary for more accurate diagnosis of heart attacks in women.