Announcements

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Job Opportunity

Medical Executive

The HCRS is looking for a cardiologist to work full or part time as a medical executive. Applicants should send a CV/resumé to the secretariat:

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Top news

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Summary of trials from ESC Congress 2010

September 1, 2010

The annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology was held in Stockholm from August 28 to September 1, 2010. We present a summary of the most interesting results of late-breaking important trials which were presented at the meeting, compiled by D. Sakellariou.

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New ESC guidelines

August 30, 2010

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) published 4 new sets of guidelines during the ESC's annual Congress in Stockholm.

• the management of atrial fibrillation (PDF, 2.7Mb).
• device therapy in heart failure (PDF, 280 Kb).
• management of grown up congenital heart disease (PDF, 1.6Mb).
• myocardial revascularisation (PDF, 2.8Mb).

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FDA approves single pill aliskiren and amlodipine

August 27, 2010

A single pill combination of aliskiren and amlopidine (Tekamlo) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of hypertension. Data revealed that Tekamlo significantly reduced blood pressure compared to amlodipine or aliskiren alone. The medication has been approved in tablet form.

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News Update

August 27, 2010

Newer P2Y12 inhibitors decrease mortality after PCI compared with clopidogrel: A meta-analysis published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology shows that new P2Y12 inhibitors (prasugrel, cangrelor, ticagrelor and elinogrel) reduce mortality after PCI compared with clopidogrel and were especially effective in 48599 patients undergoing PCI for ST-elevation MI.

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NICE publishes new clinical guidelines on the treatment of chronic heart failure and of atrial fibrillation: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued its updated clinical guidelines on the management of chronic heart failure in adults in primary and secondary care, and on the management of atrial fibrillation, including dronedarone as a second line treatment.

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Similar CV risk after treatment with rosiglitazone and pioglitazone in case-matched analysis: According to a new analysis published in the latest issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, with the use of diabetes medications rosiglitazone and pioglitazone the risk of heart attack and/or heart failure, or death were the same: approximately 4%.

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News Update

August 19, 2010

Higher exercise capacity is inversely associated with all-cause mortality in older men: Exercise capacity is inversely associated with all-cause mortality in older men, according to the results of a new study by P. Kokkinos and his colleagues that has been published online in Circulation and will be published in the next issue of the journal. The survival benefit was observed among individuals able to participate in moderate daily exercise, such as brisk walking.

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Bivalirudin Reduces Mortality After PCI for High-Risk STEMI: In high-risk patients having percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI), bivalirudin was more effective than unfractionated heparin plus a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor (UFH/GPI) in reducing mortality and repeat myocardial infarction according to a post hoc subgroup analysis of the randomized, open-label HORIZONS-AMI trial, reported in the August issue of JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.

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FDA proposes withdrawal of midodrine: The US Food and Drug Administration has proposed to withdraw approval of the drug midodrine hydrochloride, used to treat the low blood pressure condition orthostatic hypotension, because required post-approval studies that verify the clinical benefit of the drug have not been done.

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Sleep duration may be an important marker of CVD: Sleep duration, both less than and more than the standard seven hours, may be an important marker of cardiovascular disease according to data from the National Health Interview Survey 2005 which were analysed and published in the latest issue of Sleep.

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Alnylam publishes research findings of Sort1 gene role in cardiovascular disease development

August 5, 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the publication of new research findings in the journal Nature describing the discovery and validation of the role of the gene Sort1 in the development of cardiovascular disease, including myocardial infarction (MI).

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Promising results for miromersen (a new hypolipidemic drug) in two Phase 3 trials

August 4, 2010

Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ) and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ISIS) announced today the results of two phase 3 studies of mipomersen in patients who had high cholesterol levels while on maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapy. In the study of patients with severe hypercholesterolemia, mipomersen reduced LDL-C, the primary endpoint, by 36 percent compared with a 13 percent increase for placebo. In the study of patients with high cholesterol at high cardiovascular risk, mipomersen reduced LDL-C by 37 percent compared with a 5 percent reduction for placebo. Both studies met all of their secondary endpoints. Frequently observed adverse events were injection site reactions, flu-like symptoms and elevations in liver transaminases, as seen in previous studies.

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For past articles please visit the archive.

 

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