Top 5 cardiology news articles posted in August

Cardiology Today compiled a list of the top 5 stories posted to Healio.com/Cardiology in August.

This month, Cardiology Today readers were most interested in the link between CVD and Alzheimer’s disease, new findings in sedentary behavior, FDA approvals, treatments for atrial fibrillation, risks conferred by sleep apnea and much more.

Alzheimer’s disease more likely in patients with cerebral vascular disease

Results from a cross-sectional study of older adults showed an association between cerebral vascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

“Both large and small vessel diseases have effects on dementia and thinking abilities, independently of one another, and independently of the common causes of dementia such as Alzheimer’s pathology and strokes,” Zoe Arvanitakis, MD, MS, neurologist and researcher at Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago, said in a press release. Read More

AHA: ‘Sit less, move more’

Sedentary behavior, even among physically active individuals, is associated with greater risk for CVD, diabetes, impaired insulin sensitivity and all-cause mortality, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association.

“The state of the science right now is we don't know how much is too much,” Deborah Rohm Young, PhD, director of behavioral research at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena and chair of the group that wrote the statement, told Cardiology Today. “But, we do know the evidence is highly suggestive that too much sitting or being sedentary is associated with increased CV morbidity and mortality.” Read More

Resistant hypertension, sleep apnea elevate risk for ischemic events, HF

Resistant hypertension conferred increased risk for sleep apnea, and patients with both conditions had greater risk for ischemic events and HF, according to new data.

Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study between 2006 and 2010 of 470,386 adults with hypertension from the Kaiser Permanente Southern California database. Read More

FDA approves valve for minimally invasive surgical aortic valve replacement

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. announced the FDA has approved a rapid deployment device to help streamline surgical aortic valve replacement for patients with aortic valve disease.

The valve system (Edwards Intuity Elite, Edwards Lifesciences), built on an existing tissue valve platform (Perimount, Carpentier Edwards), draws upon innovations from transcatheter heart valves to facilitate minimally invasive surgery, the company stated in a press release. Read More

Apixaban superior to warfarin regardless of renal function in patients with AF

Renal function status had no effect on the superiority of apixaban in efficacy and safety compared with warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation, according to data published in JAMA Cardiology.

In the ARISTOTLE trial, apixaban (Eliquis, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer) was associated with reduced risk for stroke, mortality and major bleeding compared with warfarin. The current analysis investigated whether the safety and efficacy of apixaban was affected by worsening renal function. Read More