News and views

Cardiologists from St Mary’s Hospital, London, have become the first in the world to implant a new generation of pacemaker that could help more people with syncope than current pacemakers....

A new stent which may promote healing of the artery better than currently available drug-eluting stents has shown promising results in initial clinical trials. The Genous Bio-engineered R StentTM, being developed by OrbusNeich, is coated with an antibody to capture a patient’s endothelial progenitor cells, which form a layer over the stent to provide protection against thrombus and minimise restenosis....

The first study to investigate the efficacy of the cholesterol absorption inhibitor, ezetimibe, has shown no benefit of the drug in an imaging study in patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH)....

State-of-the-art virtual simulators (see right) and a virtual in-house catheterisation laboratory to help physicians learn about the latest cardiac and vascular treatment techniques are just some of the educational facilities being offered by The Crossroads Institute for medical education, in Brussels, Belgium....

Does the transradial route for percutaneous coronary intervention preclude the use of the radial artery as a conduit for CABG?...

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 reveals the true impact of a disease that ravages victims in their millions....

This book is aimed at cardiologists as well as more general medical practitioners wanting to improve their knowledge of this area. ...

ADVANCE – lowering blood pressure reduces events in diabetes Death rates with drug-eluting stents worse in STEMI patients Women with ACS do worse with PCI EUROASPIRE: lifestyle issues cancel out treatment benefits FINESSE: another trial fails to show benefit of facilitated PCI No need for clopidogrel pre-treatment in stable patients Atheroma regression with angiotensin receptor blockade Smoking ban reduces ACS Bosentan beneficial in inoperable pulmonary arterial hypertension? ARRIVE and REPLACE are announced MERLIN suggests ranolazine may have anti-arrhythmic properties in acute coronray syndrome...

Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University hosted the 21st Annual Medical & Scientific Meeting and the Patients’ Workshop of H.E.A.R.T UK this summer. The theme was looking back and looking forward at familial hypercholesterolaemia. H.E.A.R.T UK is committed to the early detection of families with the condition. Gill Stokes, a nursing advisor with the charity, reports....

Heart disease in women was the theme for the SHARP (Scottish Heart and Arterial Risk Prevention Group) Spring Symposium held earlier this year in Dunkeld, Perthshire. Addressed at the meeting was whether there was any difference in the epidemiology and pathogenesis of coronary heart disease (CHD) in women. Speakers also examined the evidence on how they should be treated, along with any disparities, if any, that currently exist in their treatment. Dr Alan Begg reports....