News and views

We are pleased to bring you a podcast from this year’s Cardiorenal Forum Annual Scientific Meeting, held in London on 13th October 2017. A highlight of the day’s proceedings included a lively and informative debate on hyperkalaemia – where abnormally high potassium levels are a major concern for many clinicians, particularrly nephrologists and cardiologists. The fear of causing hyperkaleamia is depriving many thousands of patients of appropriate treatment....

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has updated its clinical guideline (CG71) on the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH)....

Results from the REDUCE trial presented at the 29th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium in Denver, USA, provide new insights into the optimal treatment of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) using a dual-therapy stent....

Kathryn E Griffith (Secretary of the PCCS and Cardiovascular Lead for the Vale of York CCG) writes about the newly formed Primary Care Cardiovascular Society....

We are delighted to announce a new series for 2018 on the award-winning Bradford Healthy Hearts Project. This collaborative improvement programme, which involves primary care, secondary care, public health and commissioning, was inspired by failure… in that Bradford, compared to the rest of England and Wales, had an unenviably poor record in terms of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. The project was delivered mainly in primary care and was based on three streams of work covering atrial fibrillation, hypertension and lipid management. ...

The 31st HEART UK Annual Medical and Scientific Conference took place at the University of Warwick from 5th – 7th July 2017. This year’s conference focused on cholesterol management in the future and reflected the current period of change in health care delivery and expectation. Jaqui Walker reports the meeting’s highlights....

A new advisory careers test has been designed with the aim of transforming the recruitment of potential doctors. It is hoped the test will address the shortage of GPs and emergency doctors in the NHS, and give pupils from all backgrounds equal opportunities. Historically state sector students have been at a disadvantage over private school pupils....

Around 7,400 individuals will have a stroke in Wales each year, with 66,000 currently living with the after effects of a stroke. It is estimated that 70 % of stroke cases could be avoided....

The European Commission (EC) has approved an update to the label of rivaroxaban (Xarelto®, Bayer) to include a 10 mg once daily dose for the extended prevention of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE). This label update applies to patients who have already received at least six months of standard anticoagulation therapy, and provides clinicians with an additional treatment option alongside the 20 mg once daily dose already licensed in this indication....

The ESC decision is a huge vote of confidence in London as a leading centre for medical research. London overcame stiff competition from other key European cities in winning the event for 2021. When the ESC last came to London in 2015, it generated £100 million of economic benefit for the city, attracting more than 32,700 delegates from 140 countries....