Tag Archives: LDL-cholesterol

What’s new in transplantation Are kidney donors worse off? The meeting was opened by Dr Anna Price (Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Birmingham) who addressed the long-term cardiovascular effects of unilateral nephrectomy in living kidney donors.1 Previous studies have shown a significant prevalence of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD),2,3 but the effects of reduced renal function in living kidney donors has been unexplored until now. A recent study by Price et al. demonstrated that living kidney donors had a reduction in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) from 95 to 67 ml/min

Stat tests loaded into the VITROS XT 7600 Moderate alcohol consumption does not protect against stroke Blood pressure and stroke risk increase steadily with increasing alcohol intake, and previous claims that one to two alcoholic drinks a day might protect against stroke are not borne out by new evidence from a genetic study involving 160,000 adults. Studies of East Asian genes, where two common genetic variants strongly affect what people choose to drink, show that alcohol itself directly increases blood pressure and the chances of having a stroke, according to a new study published in The Lancet (doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31772-0). Researc

FH: improving detection in primary care The launch of the NICE (National Institute of Health and Care Excellence) guidelines for familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) heralded great optimism for improving detection rates in primary care.1 Even with new research showing that FH is more common than previously thought,2  still around 80% of patients are not recognised. Novel detection approaches are clearly needed. Professor Nadeem Qureshi (University of Nottingham) presented preliminary findings from six GP centres taking part in FAMCHOL (Feasibility of Improving Identification of Familial Hypercholesterolaemia in General Practice: Intervention

Lowering LDL-cholesterol: we need to do better It is essential that high-risk patients attain the recommended low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol target. As reported at the first late-breaking session, the choice and dose of statin are key factors influencing LDL-cholesterol lowering. In a meta-analysis of the VOYAGER (Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis of Statin Therapy in At-risk Groups: Effects of Rosuvastatin, Atorvastatin and Simvastatin) database of 37 studies of high-intensity statins, 71% of patients treated with rosuvastatin 40 mg achieved at least 50% reduction in LDL-cholesterol levels, compared with 59% for atorvastatin 8

Assessing the clinical benefits of drugs for dyslipidaemia Dear Sirs, A recent editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine1 highlights several challenging issues in the development of new treatments for lipid disorders. There is now uncertainty regarding the regulatory approach of approving drugs on the basis of favourable lipid effects and evaluating clinical benefit after approval. In numerous trials and several meta-analyses of outcome trials, the reduction of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol has been shown to be associated with outcome benefit.2–4 Most of these studies have been performed with statins. The first demonstrat

HEAT-PPCI: heparin outperforms bivalirudin in primary PCI The major talking point of this year’s American College of Cardiology meeting was without doubt the aptly named HEAT-PPCI trial which generated more heat than has been seen at such conferences for quite some time. The trial acronym stands for How Effective Are Antithrombotic Therapies in Primary PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention), and the study – conducted in the UK under the leadership of Dr Rod Stables (Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital) – compared unfractionated heparin with bivalirudin (Angiomax®, the Medicines Company) in patients with ST-elevation myoca

CORONARY: off-pump and on-pump CABG similar The largest trial ever to compare off-pump and on-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) has shown no difference between the two techniques in terms of the primary composite end point. There were, however, some differences in certain end points, leading to the suggestion that the decision as to which approach to choose could be individualised with each patient. Table 1. Main results from the CORONARY trial The CORONARY trial enrolled 4,752 patients who were randomised to off-pump or on-pump surgery. At 30 days the primary end point – a composite of death, myocardial infraction (MI), kidney fai

SAPIEN valve positive results Clinicians have achieved successful one-year outcomes in high-risk or inoperable patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement during the first two years since release of the valve (Sapien®, Edwards) commercially, according to results presented at the Euro PCR 2001 meeting in Paris, France. Despite high predicted mortality and multiple co-morbidities in many of these patients, survival at one year was 76% in the 1,038 patients treated as part of Cohort I (first year of commercialisation), and 77% in the 1,269 patients treated as part of Cohort II (second year of commercialisation).  Since November

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