This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Cardiology Today's top articles in March
Cardiology Today compiled a list of the top 5 stories posted to Healio.com/Cardiology in March.
This month, Cardiology Today’s readers were most interested in discharge rates in patients with Kawasaki disease, dietary recommendation adherence and CHD risk factors, the uncertainty of fish oil supplement benefits, the results of the EINSTEIN-CHOICE trial, IMPROVE-IT trial results and much more.
Rise observed in hospital discharges of patients with Kawasaki disease
The number of patients discharged with Kawasaki disease rose by nearly 50% between 2004 and 2013, according to findings presented at Cardiology 2017.
Researchers also found seasonal and regional variations in discharge patterns.
Adherence to dietary recommendations linked to small improvement in weight, CHD risk factors
An increased intake of foods recommended for a heart-healthy diet was linked to small improvements in weight and CHD risk factors in patients with overweight, according to findings published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
However, participants wanting to control their CHD risk factors by increasing their intake of fruits, vegetables, whole-grain cereals and functional foods such as nuts, fiber, soy protein found it difficult to do so even when provided weekly food provisions, researchers wrote.
AHA: Insufficient evidence for benefit of fish oil supplements in general population
Eicosatetraenoic acid plus docosahexaenoic acid supplements may help prevent death in patients with recent MI or HF, but evidence is lacking to support use of the supplements for CVD prevention in the general population, according to an American Heart Association science advisory.
Approximately 18.8 million U.S. adults reported taking omega-3 fish oil supplements in 2012, according to David Siscovick, MD, MPH, senior vice president for research at the New York Academy of Medicine and chair of the advisory’s writing committee, and colleagues.
EINSTEIN-CHOICE: Recurrent VTE lower with rivaroxaban vs. aspirin, without rise in bleeding
WASHINGTON — Patients with venous thromboembolism assigned 10 mg or 20 mg of rivaroxaban had lower risk for recurrence compared with those who used aspirin, with no difference in bleeding, according to new data from the EINSTEIN-CHOICE trial.
“Rivaroxaban 10 mg once daily provides an additional option for extended VTE treatment, one we did not have available to us before,” Phillip S. Wells, MD, from the department of medicine at University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Canada, said during a presentation.
IMPROVE-IT: Intensive lipid-lowering therapy confers long-term safety, efficacy
At 6 years, patients who achieved very low LDL levels after 1 month of lipid-lowering therapy had a similar safety profile and the lowest rate of CV events compared with those who achieved higher LDL levels, according to new data from the IMPROVE-IT trial.
In a previous analysis, IMPROVE-IT demonstrated that the combination of ezetimibe (Zetia, Merck) and simvastatin (Zocor, Merck) lowered LDL to a median level of 54 mg/dL and improved CV outcomes in patients with a recent ACS.