This week’s topics include the ROMICAT-II study, articles on n-3 fatty acids and basal insulin for preventing CV events in those with dysglycemia, citicoline for acute ischemic stroke, hypertension misperceptions and medication adherence, and more.

I saw a news item today with an alarming statistic about the number of doctors who plan to retire in the next decade. We all have days where work can be frustrating – but the article indicated that 45% of cardiologists planned to retire in the next decade. I was thinking about what the natural attrition rate might be and how this compared with other eras. What is your experience? Do you have the sense that people are planning to leave the profession earlier than they might have planned a… Continue Reading

With fewer grant-funding opportunities for academic cardiologists, Wes Fisher takes an educated guess about where they may go.

Larry Husten asks readers to assess the ethical dimensions of St. Jude’s recent statements about the RESPECT trial.

This week’s topics include studies on the effect of physical inactivity on worldwide health, transplantation of a vein bioengineered with autologous stem cells, flecainide for preventing AF after electrical cardioversion, and whether bevacizumab and ranibizumab increase certain CV risks.

I believe that observational studies can reveal important truths and have a critical place in the portfolio of clinical research. However, I sometimes wonder, when I see a study, just how it was conducted. Was the study question clearly defined before the analyses were begun…or did the study question emerge only after the investigator conducted many undirected analyses? In an Editor’s Perspective that I wrote, I question whether it would be useful to have journal’s require authors to disclose the methods history. Should they post their original study protocol in… Continue Reading

Yoni Freedhoff celebrates the BMJ’s publication of seven articles that are highly critical of sport and energy drinks, their manufacturers, and the researchers that are conflicted by them.

Edward Schloss discusses his dislike of the DF-4 ICD lead and his belief that the industry is designing devices for the benefit of the doctor, not the patient.

Dr. Westby Fisher shares his experiences in an EKG class for residents and asks how young doctors can pay so much for their education but know so little about basic skills like the EKG.

One of the great, unexplained mysteries of the cardiology world in recent years is the sudden name change from TAVI  (transcatheter aortic valve implantation), which had been the universally-used name for the procedure during most of its development period, to TAVR  (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) about the time when the procedure edged closer to U.S. approval. Now, in a clever letter published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Stacey Clegg and Mori Krantz “humbly suggest reversion to the archaic name transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).” When the procedure is explained… Continue Reading