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Oral contraceptives — Should they be OTC?
When it comes to moving oral contraceptives over the counter (OTC), almost 50% of participants in the Contraceptive Technology Update Contraception Survey say they support such a move. Support for OTC access is growing; 62% of American women support the pill being available without a prescription.
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With unsurpassed efficacy and rapid reversibility, contraceptive implant can be put into practice
While use of long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods is growing, the contraceptive implant (Nexplanon, Merck & Co., Whitehouse Station, NJ) is still underused, say family planning experts. Look at the most recent national figures: In 2009, 8.5% of women using contraceptives relied on LARC methods, rising from 5.5% in 2007 and 2.4% in 2002. However, most of these women (nearly 8%) use intrauterine devices (IUDs), compared to less than 1% who use the implant.
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Ortho Evra patch discontinued — What next?
Rewind to 2002: The first transdermal contraceptive, the Ortho Evra patch, hit U.S. pharmacy shelves. Fast forward to the present: The manufacturer has production of the device “due to a business decision,” according to information on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website.
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CTU remembers Michael Rosenberg, MD, MPH
The reproductive health research community is paying tribute to Michael Rosenberg, MD, MPH, founder and chief executive officer of the Durham, NC-based clinical research organization, Health Decisions. Rosenberg was killed in a Dec. 8 plane crash in Maryland.
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For Methods that are Reversible and Long-acting, the Upswing Continues
Our annual contraception survey shows “dramatically more” women choosing intrauterine and implant contraception.
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Risk of Stroke with Intracardiac Devices and Patent Foramen Ovale
After some case reports of stroke due to electrophysiology (EP) device thrombosis in patients with a patent foramen ovale (PFO), concern has been raised about the risk of stroke with intracardiac devices in patients with known PFO. Thus, these investigators from the Cleveland Clinic did a retrospective database study of 2921 echocardiography-detected PFO patients and categorized them as having an EP device (231) or not.
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Late Tricuspid Regurgitation After Heart Valve Surgery
Due to the success of left heart valve disease surgical corrections, patients may experience late tricuspid regurgitation.
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Coronary Stents and Noncardiac Surgery
Contemporary data suggest that approximately one in every five patients will require non-cardiac surgery within two years of coronary stent implantation.
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Spironolactone & the Potential Benefit for HFPEF Patients
No treatment has been shown to improve outcomes in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
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Revascularization for Isolated Proximal LAD Disease: PCI is Easiest, but is it Best?
Among patients with obstructive coronary disease requiring revascularization, guidelines would suggest a clear preference for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) over percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) only in certain defined subsets, including those with left main disease and in diabetics with multi-vessel disease. Patients with isolated proximal LAD disease represent a unique high-risk subset of those with single-vessel disease, in that the size of the affected territory and associated ischemic risk makes CABG a viable option. In fact, U.S. guidelines currently assign a slight advantage to CABG with a left internal mammary graft to the left anterior descending (LAD) for such patients, rating this as a IIa indication vs a IIb recommendation for PCI. This is despite a relative paucity of data on this subset of patients, at least using contemporary treatments. In fact, of the nine randomized, controlled trials forming the basis for 17 published studies examining this question, most are quite small, and all but one were performed using bare-metal stents; the single small RCT incorporating drug-eluting stents (DES) used first-generation devices that are no longer part of the treatment landscape.