News and views

N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a “remarkable predictor” of incident atrial fibrillation (AF), even after adjustment for other known risk factors, according to the results of a new study....

New analyses of data from ECASS 3 (Third European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study) suggest that the thrombolytic, tPA (alteplase) has benefits in the treatment of stroke up to 4.5 hours after symptom onset. This builds on the current approved time window of three hours....

Extending clopidogrel treatment from one to two years after drug-eluting stent placement is associated with a reduction in very late thromboses, new registry data suggest. ...

The use of niacin was associated with a regression of atherosclerotic plaque in a new imaging study....

Seven million in UK have prediabetes An estimated seven million people in the UK have prediabetes (or impaired glucose regulation), according to Diabetes UK. The charity is hoping to raise … Continue reading In brief →...

The Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics 2009 meeting was held in San Francisco, USA, from September 22nd – 25th....

Colin Doig and Henry Purcell report highlights from the recent Cardiology at the Limits meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa...

‘Making change happen’ was the theme of the 12th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society (PCCS) in Nottingham on 1st – 3rd October 2009. The largest ever meeting of the society debated the challenges and advantages of change in a time of economic downturn in the NHS, with innovative projects and studies revealing best practice. Medical journalist Jacqui Thornton reports from the meeting where many delegates believed working together to enable change was possible and desired....

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 joys of open-topped motoring....

This year’s European Society of Cardiology (ESC) congress, held in Barcelona, Spain, from August 29th–September 2nd 2009, was awash with promising new data, including results from two mega studies – RE-LY and PLATO – which were described as ‘ground breaking’. ...