Culture

Rome, Italy- 28 August 2016: More than 3 years of nightly treatment with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine did not reduce cardiovascular risk more than usual care among patients with cardiovascular disease and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Findings from the Sleep Apnea Cardiovascular Endpoints (SAVE) study were presented at ESC Congress 2016, with simultaneous publication in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Rome, Italy - 28 August, 2016: Placement of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) in patients with non-ischemic systolic heart failure did not improve overall survival compared to usual clinical care - although a secondary outcome, risk of sudden cardiac death, was halved with ICD placement, according to new research reported here.

Rome, Italy - 28 August, 2016: For heart failure patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), remote monitoring of their condition does not improve outcomes compared to usual care, according to Hot Line results presented at ESC Congress 2016 and to be simultaneously published in JAMA.

Findings from the Remote Management of Heart Failure Using Implantable Electronic Devices (REM-HF) trial showed that remote monitoring was not associated with reduced mortality or fewer cardiovascular hospitalisations compared to usual care.

Rome, Italy - 28 August, 2016: Heart failure patients fitted with biventricular defibrillators (CRT-D) fared no better with remote monitoring (RM) of their condition compared to those whose devices were monitored during in-clinic visits, according to results of the MORE-CARE study.

Rome, Italy - 28 August, 2016: A therapy that uses bone-marrow stem cells to promote heart repair did not significantly improve the primary outcome over a sham procedure among patients with congestive heart failure. However, it revealed critical new insights, according to investigators of the CHART-1 trial.

Rome, Italy - 28 August, 2016: A single dose of mesenchymal stem cells delivered intravenously to patients with chronic non-ischemic cardiomyopathy was not associated with significant cardiac structural or functional improvements, but did result in several clinically relevant benefits, according to results from a phase II-a randomized trial.

A new study suggests gaps exist in the treatment of depression with many individuals who screen positive for the mental health disorder not receiving treatment, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

In a study published online by JAMA, John P. Greenwood, Ph.D., of the University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom, and colleagues examined whether among patients with suspected coronary heart disease (CHD), cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR)-guided care is superior to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines-directed care and myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS)-guided care in reducing unnecessary angiography. The study is being released to coincide with its presentation at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2016.

CHICAGO--August 29, 2016-- An analysis of multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial found osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) for pneumonia reduced length of hospital stay in adults 50 to 74 years old and lowered in-hospital mortality rates for patients 75 and older. The study results published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.

A contact lens designed to deliver medication gradually to the eye could improve outcomes for patients with conditions requiring treatment with eye drops, which are often imprecise and difficult to self-administer. In a study published online today in Ophthalmology, a team of researchers have shown that a novel contact lens-based system, which uses a strategically placed drug polymer film to deliver medication gradually to the eye, is at least as effective, and possibly more so, as daily latanoprost eye drops in a pre-clinical model for glaucoma.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Electronic eye exams could become popular in the U.S. among patients who see them as an easy way to visit the eye doctor.

After a nationwide telemedicine diabetic screening program in England and Wales, for example, diabetic retinopathy is no longer the leading cause of blindness there.

Similar e-health programs could grow stateside, where diabetic retinopathy remains the main driver of new-onset blindness. But it hasn't been known if patients would participate.

Rome, Italy - 29 August 2016: Patients who have heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH), a condition that causes abnormally raised low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and premature cardiovascular disease, can significantly reduce or even eliminate their need for expensive and time-consuming apheresis treatments with the PCSK9 inhibitor alirocumab.

Rome, Italy - 29 August, 2016: Lipoprotein apheresis, a therapy normally used to filter excess cholesterol from the blood of patients with familial hypercholesterolemia, may have a new role in patients with refractory angina.

New results reported during a Hot Line session at ESC Congress 2016 showed the extracorporeal treatment resulted in significant improvements compared to sham therapy in patients who had refractory angina along with raised levels of lipoprotein(a).

Rome, Italy - 29 August 2016: The first European standards for the management of heart attack patients are launched today by the European Society of Cardiology-Acute Cardiac Care Association (ESC-ACCA). The quality indicators for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are published in European Heart Journal: Acute Cardiovascular Care, ACCA's official journal, and presented at ESC Congress together with the results of the inaugural implementation.1,2

A major new study shows that delivering integrated mental and physical healthcare in team-based primary care settings at Intermountain Healthcare results in better clinical outcomes for patients, lower rates of healthcare utilization, and lower costs.

The study is published in the August 23/30 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. It was accompanied by an editorial in JAMA that heralded the benefits of integrated mental health care.