News and views

Another trial stopped early because of benefit is EMPHASIS-HF (Eplerenone in Mild Patients Hospitalisation And SurvIval Study in Heart Failure) which looked at the aldosterone inhibitor, eplerenone, in mild heart-failure patients....

A new study suggests that patients with metabolic syndrome are no more at risk of future myocardial infarction (MI) than those with diabetes or hypertension alone, and that doctors should focus on treating individual risk factors. ...

The influence and importance of valve disease is increasing and yet the subject remains under-represented. There is, for example, no group affiliated to the British Cardiovascular Society and no National Services Framework on valve disease. A number of interested individuals have recently convened to discuss the formation of a specialist group suggesting it could issue comments on topical issues, plan collaborative research and organise study days. The group will bring together all disciplines interested in valve disease and will be concerned with wider issues like variations in care as well as those more immediately related to clinical practice. ...

Patients at moderate to high risk of cardiovascular disease should be screened for elevated Lp(a) and take niacin to lower levels to under 50 mg/dL (1.3 mmol/L), according to a consensus statement from the European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS). ...

A new study has confirmed that there has been a significant drop in hospital admissions for myocardial infarction (MI) after the introduction of smoke-free legislation in England. ...

News in brief from the world of cardiology. ...

To find out how the European Working Time Directive set up to help improve the welfare of junior doctors seems to be failing in one of its primary objectives, why women may benefit more from cardiac resynchronisation therapy defibrillators than men, and why telehealth heart failure patients experience a significant improvement in their care and quality of life, visit our sister website: ...

We continue our series in which Consultant Interventionist Dr Michael Norell takes a sideways look at life in the cath lab…and beyond. In this column, he updates the definitions of terms used in interventional cardiology....

By the very nature of book publishing, a relevant evidence-based textbook is always a hard task to achieve. The editors of Evidence-based cardiology preface this book, now in its 3rd edition, with an admission of this limitation. This textbook is, however, more than just a reference volume. It seeks to educate and equip the reader with the tools to critically appraise information, and then demonstrates how research has evolved to shape current practice....

A new guideline has been published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Clinical Guidelines Centre for Acute and Chronic Conditions on the early management of unstable angina and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI)....