Clinical Cardiology Alert – November 1, 2018
November 1, 2018
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MitraClip Scores Big Win in COAPT
The largest trial to date of MitraClip in highly selected patients with congestive heart failure and functional mitral regurgitation revealed significant reductions in heart failure hospitalization and two-year mortality.
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LDL Cholesterol: How Low Do We Go?
A meta-analysis of 29 cholesterol-lowering outcome studies with baseline average low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels ≤ 70 mg/dL showed consistent major adverse cardiovascular event risk reductions down to average LDL levels of 21 mg/dL without any increase in adverse events.
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VEST: A Positively Negative Clinical Trial
In a randomized trial of the wearable cardioverter-defibrillator prescribed to patients with left ventricular dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction, overall compliance rates were low. The authors observed no significant improvement in arrhythmic death rates; yet, overall mortality was lower.
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Total Arterial Revascularization: Where Is It?
The results of a long-term follow-up study of matched pairs of patients undergoing surgical coronary artery revascularization showed that total arterial graft usage significantly reduced all-cause mortality vs. left internal mammary artery plus saphenous vein grafts.
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Telemedicine Improves Outcomes in Heart Failure
In patients with chronic heart failure, adding a remote patient management program to usual care was associated with improvement in unplanned cardiovascular hospitalization or death.