News and views

It is hoped that a new National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline on recent onset chest pain will lead to a reduction in cardiovascular deaths. ...

Dronedarone included in new appraisal consultation document An independent Appraisal Committee has revised NICE’s original recommendation that dronedarone should not be used to treat atrial fibrillation (AF) after considering comments received at public consultation on the previous draft guidance. Recent draft guidance published on 30th March recommends the limited use of the drug as a second-line treatment in people with additional cardiovascular risk factors whose AF has not been controlled by first-line therapy (usually including beta blockers)....

Neither intensive blood pressure reduction, or adding a fibrate to a statin, appear to be justified in patients with diabetes at high risk of cardiovascular disease, according to studies reported at the American College of Cardiology meeting held in Atlanta, US, in March. But more encouraging news came in the form of a new percutaneous procedure that should prevent the need for mitral valve surgery. ...

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

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 considers the pitfalls of passwords....

Correspondence from the world of cardiology...

For more than 30 years, the term ‘cardioprotection’ has been applied widely and often without precision to sundry interventions that reduce the incidence and severity of cardiovascular disease. For those of us who spend time occluding and reperfusing coronary arteries to model experimentally the effects of coronary thrombosis, ‘cardioprotection’ has a precise (and arguably the definitive) meaning; i.e. cardioprotection is the limitation or prevention of irreversible cellular injury in heart muscle as a consequence of ischaemia and reperfusion. In this little book, this definition is applied and is extended to consider all aspects of the medical management of acute myocardial infarction. This is a highly successful and justified approach that will maximise the appeal and utility of this text to a wide clinical and scientific audience. Barely 120 pages of text, nevertheless the book provides an up-to-date and remarkably comprehensive series of essays that convey an accurate snapshot of the basic and clinical science relevant to the rational treatment of myocardial infarction....

My initial reaction on reading this slim, elegant volume was a twinge of professional jealousy which was rapidly replaced by enjoyment. An important feature is that nationalism has been set aside, with authors from Europe, New Zealand, America, Canada and Australia. Perhaps the next edition will embrace the challenges of developing countries as well. ...

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued new guidance on the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients admitted to hospital. ...

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued a draft guidance on the new anti-arrhythmic drug, dronedarone, saying it does not recommend its use to treat atrial fibrillation (AF), because “it is less effective and costs considerably more than existing treatments”. It is estimated that dronedarone costs around £2.25 per day compared with about £0.05 for amiodarone....