Clinical Cardiology Alert – August 1, 2013
August 1, 2013
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Clopidogrel Plus Aspirin After Transient Ischemic Attack
Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) and minor strokes are often the harbingers of a large, debilitating stroke. Approximately 10% of patients experiencing a TIA will go on to have a large stroke within the next 3 months. -
Troponomania or an Advancement in Care?
Elevated troponin levels after non-cardiac surgery have been shown to predict postoperative myocardial infarction (MI) and death. Thus, these investigators from the Netherlands instituted a postoperative troponin monitoring program at one hospital to test the hypothesis that troponin elevations in the first 3 days after surgery would predict 30-day mortality after non-cardiac surgery. -
Adults with Atrial Septal Defects — Surgical or Transcatheter Closure?
Atrial septal defects (ASD) can lead to exercise intolerance, pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure, and reduced life expectancy if they are not repaired. Surgical closure for ASD transformed the care of these patients and resulted in similar life expectancy to subjects without ASD. In recent years, transcatheter ASD closure has largely replaced surgery, but long-term data comparing the two techniques are limited. -
Neurologic Complications of Infective Endocarditis
The relationship between neurologic complications of infective endocarditis (IE), urgent valve surgery, and outcomes is poorly understood. Thus, these investigators performed a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database of IE cases from 1984-2009 in seven Spanish hospitals. -
Can Athletes with ICDs Participate in Competitive Sports?
Young athletes with an inherited arrhythmia syndrome, such as long QT syndrome (LQTS) or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), may undergo implantation of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) if they are believed to be at high risk of sudden death. American College of Cardiology (ACC) guidelines have typically recommended that such individuals should be prohibited from vigorous sports. Yet for many young athletes, prohibition of participation in any competitive sport may be a life-altering event, followed by poor grades or depression.