Cardiology

Stroke and TIA rates are down and fewer patients arrive by ambulance in national emergency department survey.

What does the patient with atrial fibrillation who would benefit from oral anticoagulation look like today? Q & A, here.

Results of the LEGACY study show long-term weight loss decreases AF burden and supports sustained sinus rhythm. A short slide show summarizes the 2015 ACC late-breaking abstract.

The patient drove himself to the ED after experiencing symptoms while playing basketball. He has a history of anxiety, but is this more than a case of nerves over a missed foul shot?

Be alert for the pitfalls in ECG interpretation of ACS. An initial tracing can be normal in about 10% of cases, even during chest pain. Nonspecific changes occur in another 5% to 15% of cases.

The answer might depend on which study group you ask-and when. Facts from 3 new analyses of testosterone in action are presented in the 7 slides that follow.

Research presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session and other developments make the news.

Evidence-based recommendations on the intake of free sugars to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases are the ingredients of a new WHO guideline. Find the recipe in these slides.

The FDA will require labels on prescription testosterone products that disclose a possible increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. A “black box” warning won’t be added.

A small study highlights a big point: manage risk factors that affect the atrial fibrillation substrate and ablation therapy success rates improve (ARREST-AF Cohort Study).

What is your command of the components of this risk prediction tool for patients with atrial fibrillation? Find out with our 4-question quiz.

Oral etidronate, IV pamidronate, and then zoledronate caused bone markers to normalize in this 80-year-old woman-temporarily. What’s going on? Answer this and questions on 3 other topics in this week’s quiz.

If your patient asks you whether it is safe for him to get out there and shovel, here are some tips from the American Heart Association you might want to pass along.

Is there a connection between this patient’s symptoms and the thin red-brown lines under his nails? Answer this question and 4 others in this quiz.

Patients with Afib whose CHA2DS2-VASc score is 1 have a lower risk for ischemic stroke than previously thought and are not likely to benefit from anticoagulation therapy.

There is room to improve evidence-based aspirin use for primary prevention of stroke and other cardiovascular risks. Details here.

Sleep and the circadian system play a key role in cardiovascular health and antitumor activity. While disrupting sleep patterns, night shift work also increases the risk of mortality.

Eruptive xanthomas; smooth-shaped, deeply placed nodules; a solitary itchy patch . . . how much do you know about these and 2 other disorders?

Results of a new large study may offer some clarity in an area replete with conflicting findings from small studies in older men or registry studies in special populations.

New drugs that treat stubborn illness seen often in primary care lead this group of Top 5 Papers for 2014. Type 2 diabetes, cryptogenic stroke, and hep-C are key targets.

A nurse describes his own bout with atrial fibrillation-the symptoms and his attempts to cardiovert to normal rhythm-from his hospital bed.

This weekly roundup of breaking cardiology news is brought to our readers by our partners at MedPage Today.

Here’s a quiz about enterovirus, PFO, diastematomyelia, the depression/asthma connection, and an HIV complication. Can you answer the 5 questions correctly?

There is method to the “madness” surrounding cardiac stress tests. Examine these fundamental rules to make wise choices and get results.

Overall it looks as though pharmacologic rate control is still the preferred therapy for new onset AF, but a new study identifies some interesting trends in the use of drugs for both rhythm and rate.

Atrial fibrillation and dementia have long been linked, partly because both tend to affect the elderly. But there may be a causal link as well related to management of anticoagulation.

The recent AFFORD trial suggests no clinical role for omega-3 fatty acids in preventing atrial fibrillation or in modulating disease markers.

Does the HIV epidemic represent primarily a failure of the public health system--or is it more likely a result of failure on an individual level to take steps necessary to prevent infection?

Thyroglossal duct cyst; HCV-HIV coinfection; slurred speech and trouble swallowing and chewing . . . see how well you do on the quiz questions this week.

The history of T-wave inversions, normal variant (or benign) causes, ST segment elevation myocardial infarction, hyperkalemia, Wellens’ syndrome, proximal left anterior descending artery occlusion-an evaluation of ECGs and what stories they can tell you.