Internal Medicine Alert – June 30, 2023

A Promising Frontier in Alzheimer’s Treatment

In a multicenter, head-to-head trial, donanemab demonstrated superiority over aducanumab for early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease patients.

The Best Use of Statins in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

A randomized, multicenter study of high-intensity statin therapy to a treat-to-target approach in coronary artery disease patients showed no difference in three-year outcomes. These results suggest treating to a target may be more suitable to individual patients compared to blanket high-intensity statin use.

Direct Oral Anticoagulants vs. Warfarin When Treating Renal Dysfunction

A patient-level meta-analysis of five pivotal trials of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) vs. warfarin for patients with atrial fibrillation and creatinine clearance levels ranging from normal to 25 mL/min revealed standard-dose DOACs exhibit superior safety and efficacy compared to adjusted-dose warfarin and lower-dose DOACs.

Adjuvant Systemic Corticosteroid Therapy in Hospitalized Patients with Community-Acquired Pneumonia

In this meta-analysis, all-cause mortality, ICU admission, and incidence of adverse events were similar in patients who received corticosteroids compared to standard care. However, the corticosteroid therapy group recorded a lower incidence of progression to mechanical ventilation.

Fezolinetant Tablets (Veozah)

Fezolinetant can be prescribed to treat moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms caused by menopause.