News and views

Data were recently presented on a new drug class, precision oral anticoagulants (PROACs) at the recent International Stroke Conference 2019, organised by the American Heart Association and held in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA....

The first nationally agreed guidelines on the safe practice of total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) have been produced by The Association of Anaesthetists and the Society for Intravenous Anaesthesia. TIVA is the maintenance of general anaesthesia by an intravenous drug infusion rather than by more conventional, inhaled, anaesthetic drugs....

A recent randomised, controlled pilot study has shown significant stabilisation of the cardiovascular system in patients suffering from septic shock when treated with CytoSorb®, a purification technology that uses biocompatible, highly porous polymer beads which act like sponges to actively remove harmful substances from the blood....

Non-inferior cardiovascular outcome for DPP-4 inhibitor Results from the CAROLINA cardiovascular outcome study show that the DPP-4 inhibitor linagliptin (Trajenta®, Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly) is non-inferior to the sulphonylurea … Continue reading In brief →...

This year’s fascinating and thought-provoking 13th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Cardiorenal Forum brought together experts from the closely linked specialties of nephrology, cardiology and diabetes. Held in London on 5th October 2018, the meeting addressed a multidisciplinary audience and covered a variety of subjects, from recently updated guidelines to recently published trials and intriguing case-based discussion. Dr Panagiota Mitropoulou reports on its highlights....

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a new guideline on the diagnosis and management of chronic heart failure in adults (NG108). It updates and replaces the last heart failure guidance published in April 2010....

Blood clots are the second most common cause of preventable mortality in cancer patients. Approximately 4% to 20% of cancer patients experience venous thrombosis, an incidence four to five times higher than in the general population....

A new study, from the Global Capnography Project (GCAP) and published in the journal Anaesthesia (doi: 10.1111/anae.14426), has identified a need for middle and low-income countries to have access to capnography, a simple and life-saving method of monitoring a patient’s breathing, in operating theatres and in intensive care units....

Less than 5% of interventional cardiologists attempt left main bifurcation percutaneous coronary intervention stenting procedures because it is so complicated, according to estimates from Advanced Bifurcation Systems (ABS), a US medical device company with a patented bifurcation stenting platform....

Clinicians who use handheld devices to ‘listen’ to the blood flow in patients’ lower limbs now have an online teaching aid that will improve their diagnostic skills in this area....