News and views

We report the highlights from this year’s American Heart Association (AHA) meeting held in Chicago, Ohio, US, from November 11th-16th, 2006. These included studies showing regression of atherosclerosis, a study showing the effect of statins in renal disease, and a study showing the cost-effectiveness of BNP testing in diagnosing heart failure....

An abundance of new information on the controversy surrounding drug-eluting stents was presented and discussed at the Transcatheter and Therapeutics (TCT) meeting held in Washington DC, US, in October. The controversy, which dominated the World Congress of Cardiology, in Barcelona, Spain, the previous month, centres around concern about a possible increase in late stent thrombosis leading to death and myocardial infarction (MI) in patients receiving drug-eluting stents....

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 looks at the myriad of signs that dominate hospital life....

The 2006 Congress of the European Society of Cardiology joined with the World Heart Federation’s XVth World Congress of Cardiology this year and was held in Barcelona, Spain, from 2nd–6th September 2006. The joint meeting was dominated by one subject – new concerns about increased mortality and myocardial infarction with drug-eluting stents. We report on this and other highlights from this year’s meeting....

Big trouble in little Britain The recent 20th Annual Medical and Scientific Meeting of H.E.A.R.T UK focussed on obesity, cardiovascular disease and diet. Here Helen Rivas-Toro, a lipid clinic sister at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, reports on the highlights of the meeting from Canterbury....

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, medical conference paraphernalia come under scrutiny....

This is the first in a regular series of ‘Case Conferences’ dealing with ‘difficult’ angina, or patients who present with challenging myocardial ischaemia (even in the absence of symptoms). Decisions are not always either ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in such cases and the purpose is to aim for consensus on an appropriate management strategy. These cases are designed to be interactive and we encourage comments from our readers. We hope that you find these cases interesting and informative and that you join in the debate....

NICE updates its hypertension guidance A general practitioner’s view of the new guidance Rimonabant launched for obesity treatment New home monitoring technology gives greater control to chronic heart failure patients Cordis scholarships for clinical cardiology research...

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 dissects the 21st century obsession with corporate rationale....

NICE issues guidance on smoking cessation and physical activity World Heart Day to focus on diet and exercise for a ‘young’ heart...