The 18-month study, comparing pioglitazone with glimepiride, offers no insights into hard clinical end points but hints that the glitazone produced meaningful changes in the CV risk profile for diabetics with coronary artery disease. Heartwire
Severely obese adolescents who undergo bariatric surgery experience substantial improvements in cardiac geometry, left ventricular mass, and diastolic function after weight loss, new study findings indicate. Reuters Health Information
ACE inhibitors plus calcium-channel blockers surpass ACE inhibitors plus diuretics for reduction of morbidity and mortality, HPV testing may be more sensitive than Pap testing at predicting cervical neoplasia in younger women, pioglitazone slows progression of atherosclerosis in diabetics, compression-only CPR produces comparable outcomes to standard CPR in the hands of novices, and conflict-of-interest concerns derail study suggesting CT screening can detect early lung cancer and save lives. Medscape Medical News
Investigators suggest that lower revascularization rates in DES-treated vs bare-metal-stent-treated patients may have driven the improved survival, but they also emphasize that the real message is the lack of signal of harm. Heartwire
Schering-Plough Corporation announced that 5500 employees are being laid off, with sales and marketing to be hit first. In other news, the company released more emails between Kastelein and executives, arguing that the primary investigator was not kept out of the loop of important study decisions. Heartwire
Preliminary results of a study that analyzed data on AT/AF generated from implantable cardiac devices suggests that patients with 5.5 hours or more of AT/AF on any given day in the past 30 days had a more than 2-fold increased risk for stroke vs those with no episodes, independent of other stroke risk factors. Medscape Medical News
The Data Collection on Adverse Events of Anti-HIV Drugs study shows an increased risk for myocardial infarction in patients exposed to abacavir and didanosine within the preceding 6 months. Medscape Medical News
In a longitudinal randomized trial, intake of soy protein had beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors and kidney-related biomarkers in patients with type 2 diabetes and nephropathy. Medscape Medical News
Researchers are reporting that foam microembolism is common during foam sclerotherapy for varicose veins and among patients, with PFO, might provoke neurologic symptoms such as migraine or stroke. Medscape Medical News
The study designed to specifically answer whether or not ezetimibe reduces hard clinical end points, known as the IMPROVE-IT study, is expected to be delayed about one year, until 2012, because investigators have added more patients, increasing enrollment from the last target of 12 500 to 18 000. Heartwire
