Tag Archives: niacin

PREVAIL not presented but eases safety concerns on Watchman The PREVAIL trial of a new device which closes the left atrial appendage in the heart (Watchman®, Boston Scientific) attracted huge controversy at the ACC meeting when it was removed from the programme within an hour of its presentation because of an embargo break by the sponsor, Boston Scientific. But the slides and a press release were still made available to the media, and preliminary results appear to suggest some reassurance on safety concerns generated in a previous study. The device, which is implanted via a trans-septal catheter-based delivery system, is already available in

ARBITER 6: niacin superior to ezetimibe for slowing atherosclerosis Use of extended-release niacin resulted in a significant benefit on atherosclerosis compared with ezetimibe in patients already taking statins in the ARBITER 6-HALTS trial. The trial, presented at the meeting by Dr Allen Taylor (Medstar Research Institute, Washington DC, US), compared two distinct lipid-modifying strategies in patients with known vascular disease already on statins who had LDL-cholesterol levels <100 mg/dL (2.56 mmol/L) and moderately low HDL-cholesterol levels (<50 mg/dL [1.28 mmol/L]). Among the 363 patients enrolled in the study, half were randomised

The recently published study (J Am Coll Cardiol 2009;54:1787-94), was conducted by a group led by Dr Justin Lee (University of Oxford). In the study, 71 patients with low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and vascular disease were randomised to modified release nicotinic acid (uptitrated to 2 g daily), or placebo. All patients were already taking statins. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed at baseline and at six and 12 months, with blood samples taken at the time of MRI. Results showed that the primary end point of absolute change in carotid artery wall area at one year was reduced by 1.64 mm2 in the niacin group compare

Introduction Cardiovascular events remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries, and the treatment of dyslipidaemia is central to the overall management of cardiovascular risk.1,2Although correction of hypercholesterolaemia remains the principal target for correction of the lipid profile, dyslipidaemia is heterogeneous in presentation, with many patients presenting with low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) in addition to elevated concentrations of ApoB-containing lipoproteins. A survey carried out in 11 European countries identified low HDL-C (<1.03 mmol/L in men and <1.29 mmol/L in women) in ab

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