This week’s topics include the TACT study of chelation therapy, off-pump vs. on-pump CABG, clopidogrel with or without aspirin in those taking oral anticoagulants and undergoing PCI, and more.

For more of our ACC.13 coverage of late-breaking clinical trials, interviews with the authors of the most important research, and blogs from our fellows on the most interesting presentations at the meeting, check out our Coverage Headquarters. Two large trials presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in San Francisco and published simultaneously in…

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This week’s topics include extended use of apixaban, dabigatran, warfarin, or placebo in VTE, the 5-year follow-up of the SYNTAX study, and more.

The 5 year results of the SYNTAX (SYNergy between percutaneous coronary intervention with TAXus and cardiac surgery) trial are now published.  SYNTAX assessed the optimal revascularization strategy for patients with left main and/or 3-vessel disease by randomly assigning such patients to CABG or PCI (with a first-generation paclitaxel-eluting stent) and then determining the rate of…

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In November the main results of the FREEDOM trial showed that diabetics with multivessel disease do better with CABG than PCI. Now the findings of the trial’s cost-effectiveness study, published online in Circulation, demonstrate that CABG is also highly cost-effective when compared with PCI. Elizabeth Magnuson and colleagues  found that although CABG initially cost nearly $9000 more than PCI…

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Dr. Valentin Fuster answers questions about the FREEDOM trial, which shows that diabetics with multivessel disease had lower rates of death and MI with CABG than with PCI.

This week’s topics include heart failure and depression, endoscopic vs. open vein-graft harvest for CABG, linagliptin vs. glimepiride in those with type-2 diabetes, weight gain with smoking cessation, ACE inhibitors and pneumonia risk, and the effect of speech therapy after stroke.

This week’s topics include studies on rhythm vs. rate control in AF, thiazolidinediones and the risk for macular edema, and the effect of acadesine on morbidity and mortality associated with CABG.

Routine exercise echocardiography in asymptomatic patients after revascularization does not lead to better outcomes, according to a new study published in Archives of Internal Medicine. Although guidelines generally discourage the practice, post-revascularization stress tests are still commonly performed. Serge Harb and colleagues performed exercise echocardiography on 2105 patients after CABG surgery or PCI and followed…

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A large study looking at real-world use of elective coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) and stenting (PCI) in New  York State finds that nearly two thirds of PCI procedures have inappropriate or uncertain indications. By contrast, 90% of CABG procedures were deemed appropriate and 1.1% inappropriate. In a paper published in the Journal of the American…

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