Cardiology
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How Safe Is Cannabis for the Heart?
A nationwide Danish study of new prescriptions for medical cannabis for chronic pain compared to control patients has found that the 180-day incidence of atrial fibrillation/flutter is two-fold higher, but the absolute number of arrhythmias is small.
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Transcatheter vs. Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement After 10 Years
A multicenter randomized trial of transcatheter compared to surgical aortic valve replacement in low-risk older adult patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis has shown that major clinical outcomes and prosthetic valve failure were not different at 10 years of follow-up.
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FDA Approves Coronary Drug-Coated Balloon Specifically for In-Stent Restenosis
This trial randomized 600 U.S. patients with restenosis of a previously placed stent 2:1 to treatment with the AGENT drug-coated balloon or with regular balloon angioplasty. Target lesion failure at one year was significantly lower with the drug-coated balloon, as were target vessel myocardial infarction and stent thrombosis.
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Can Bariatric Surgery Control Blood Pressure Long-Term?
A randomized trial comparing bariatric surgery to medical therapy in hypertensive obese patients has shown that bariatric surgery effectively lowers blood pressure over five years of follow-up.
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New RNA Interference-Based Therapy for Hypertension
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a range of doses of a new ribonucleic acid (RNA) interference drug that reduces hepatic angiotensinogen levels has shown significant mean 24-hour systolic blood pressure reductions at three months after a single subcutaneous injection.
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Effect of Atrial Fibrillation Catheter Ablation on Psychological Well-Being
A randomized trial of catheter ablation vs. medical therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF) patients has shown that anxiety and depression scores are significantly reduced by catheter ablation and are associated with decreases in AF burden and improved physical symptoms.
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Long-Term Antiplatelet Therapy After PCI
The five-year follow-up of patients randomized to clopidogrel vs. aspirin monotherapy beyond one year after percutaneous coronary intervention has shown that clopidogrel is noninferior, but not superior, to aspirin for preventing the combined endpoint of adverse cardiovascular or major bleeding events.
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PFO Closure Review Shows High Proportion of Off-Label Use
In this retrospective cohort study using administrative data from a U.S. payor source, only 58.6% of patients undergoing patent foramen ovale closure had the procedure done for the approved indication of stroke or systemic embolism. A significant proportion of patients were outside the recommended age range.
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Do Patients Feel Better After Tricuspid Valve Clipping?
A further analysis of the quality-of-life parameters in a trial of tricuspid transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (T-TEER) in patients with severe symptomatic tricuspid regurgitation vs. medical therapy alone has shown that T-TEER is associated with significant benefits in physical functioning and quality of life that are sustained for one year and were proportional to the magnitude of regurgitation reduction.
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Does Anyone with Severe Aortic Stenosis Not Benefit from TAVR?
A single-center, retrospective study of low-flow low-gradient aortic stenosis patients has shown that a gradient < 20 mmHg identifies a high-risk group because of significant comorbidities that may not benefit from transcutaneous aortic valve replacement.