Month: September 2022

BOSTON — Routine ultrasound guidance for accessing the femoral vein for percutaneous coronary procedures didn’t cut down on bleeding and vascular complications, the UNIVERSAL trial showed. The primary combined endpoint of major bleeding and major vascular complications at 30 days showed no advantage to the imaging technique added to fluoroscopy, reported Sanjit S. Jolly, MD,

Life expectancy in the U.S. decreased to 77.0 in 2020 from 78.8 years in 2019. In 2021, it fell even lower to 76. Though some diseases are more prevalent as Americans get older, it is important to be mindful of one’s health at any age. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nine of

Decades of treating patients with cancer had already convinced Charles Hayter, MD, of the harms that come from sugar-coating the truth. But there was an incongruity in his own life that he could not see. Finally, in accepting his homosexuality at age 45, and coming out to his wife and children, he added the honesty

Systolic blood pressure (BP) went down safely and consistently 2 months after renal denervation achieved by ultrasound ablation in patients with uncontrolled, mild-to-moderate hypertension (HTN) in a key sham-controlled test of the balloon-equipped catheter. The BP reductions were significant almost regardless of how they were measured—at home, in the office, during the day, at night,

BOSTON — Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in patients with small aortic annuli had better hemodynamic results with a self-expandable than a balloon-expandable valve, with suggestion of better clinical outcomes too, in the France-TAVI registry. Mean gradient was significantly lower with self-expanding Medtronic CoreValve Evolut Pro or R devices at the end of the procedure

A newly available transcatheter device for edge-to-edge mitral valve (MV) repair, named for a famed scientist-inventor, is similar to the long-available MitraClip (Abbott Vascular) for short-term efficacy and safety, suggests an interim but prespecified analysis from a randomized trial. In its comparison with MitraClip, the PASCAL transcatheter valve repair system (Edwards Lifesciences) was noninferior with

As the Omicron subvariants BA.5 and BA.4 continue to spread across the country, common symptoms of COVID infections are changing with some now becoming more prevalent than others. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Omicron BA.5 subvariant comprises 87.5% of all new COVID cases, while the BA.4.6 variant makes up 9.2% of

The Sentinel cerebral embolic protection (CEP) device failed to reduce the overall stroke rate in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in the largest TAVR trial to date, further calling into question its clinical utility. The primary outcome of stroke at 72 hours or before discharge occurred in 34 of 1501 patients with CEP

Recognizing the potential for vaccine administration errors with look-alike vials, CDC staff shared best practices for giving the right vaccine to the right person at the right dose, during a Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) webinar earlier this week. The most concerning possible vaccination error would be that a child might receive a higher

Is there a correct way to swallow pills? A new study stresses that your posture when swallowing tablets has an impact on drug absorption. The study, published in the journal Physics of Fluids, throws light on a little-known aspect of administering medicine. Researchers found a strong association between drug dissolution and the posture maintained during ingestion.

Even a little walking may help avert serious illness and death, and a brisk stroll may be especially beneficial, according to a study of nearly 80,000 middle-aged and older adults. Each additional 2,000 steps per day — up to 10,000 — was associated with 8% to 11% fewer deaths and less heart disease and cancer,

It’s no secret that sugary drinks are bad for people’s health, but how are they linked to cancer? Researchers have found that consuming them may increase one’s risk of mortality from certain cancers. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are the “leading sources of added sugars” for Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Sept. 16, 2022 — You brought your computer home from work “for 2 weeks” in March 2020 and stayed home for 2 years. Schools went virtual. Club meetings got canceled. Gyms closed. Friends and family became off-limits. Remember avoiding other people on the street? It’s gotten better since the outbreak, but we’ve remained in relative