Bypass results vary by hospital

Heart disease and stroke statistics update — 2008. American Heart Association.

National quality indicators: 2005 national statistics, coronary artery bypass surgery. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Culler SD, Simon AW, Brown PP, Kugelmass AD, Reynolds MR, Rask KJ. Sex differences in hospital risk-adjusted mortality rates for Medicare beneficiaries undergoing CABG surgery. Archives of Internal Medicine 2008; 168:2317-22.

C-reactive protein testing comes of age

Ridker PM, Danielson E, Fonseca FA, et al. Rosuvastatin to prevent vascular events in men and women with elevated c-reactive protein. New England Journal of Medicine 2008; 359:2195-207.

Generic heart drugs as good as brand names

Kesselheim AS, Misono AS, Lee JL, et al. Clinical equivalence of generic and brand-name drugs used in cardiovascular disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 2008; 300:2514-26.

Two-way street between depression and heart disease

Lichtman JH, Bigger JT, Jr., Blumenthal JA, et al. Depression and coronary heart disease: Recommendations for screening, referral, and treatment (Endorsed by the American Psychiatric Association.) Circulation 2008; 118:1768-75.

Whooley MA, de Jonge P, Vittinghoff E, et al. Depressive symptoms, health behaviors, and risk of cardiovascular events in patients with coronary heart disease. JAMA 2008; 300:2379-88.

Preeclampsia and later heart disease

McDonald SD, Malinowski A, Zhou Q, Yusuf S, Devereaux PJ. Cardiovascular sequelae of preeclampsia/eclampsia: A systematic review and meta-analyses. American Heart Journal 2008; 156:918-30.

Statins, aspirin, and PSA levels

Hamilton RJ, Goldberg KC, Platz EA, Freedland SJ. The influence of statin medications on prostate-specific antigen levels. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2008; 100:1511-8.

Fowke JH, Motley S, Byerly S, Cookson M, Chang S, Smith JA Jr. Association between NSAIDs and PSA, prostate volume, and prostate cancer (A113). Presented at the Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting, Washington DC, Nov. 16-19, 2008.

Home INR monitoring

Jacobson AK. A prospective randomized controlled trial of the impact of home INR testing on clinical outcomes: The Home INR study (THINRS), VA cooperative study. Presented at the American Heart Association meeting, New Orleans, Nov. 12, 2008.

When success leads to failure

Liu L. A New Epidemic of Heart Failure in the United States: Findings from the National Hospital Discharge Surveys, 1980 -2006 (#3103). Presented at the American Heart Association meeting, New Orleans, Nov. 10, 2008.

Cardiac arrest after heart attack

Adabag AS, Therneau TM, Gersh BJ, Weston SA, Roger VL. Sudden death after myocardial infarction. JAMA 2008; 300:2022-9.

Vitamins C and E and heart protection

Sesso HD, Buring JE, Christen WG, et al. Vitamins E and C in the prevention of cardiovascular disease in men: The Physicians' Health Study II randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2008; 300:2123-33.

Counterpulsation and heart failure

Manchanda A, Shirani J, Kennard L, Soran O. Enhanced external counterpulsation therapy improves angina and functional status in patients with severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Presented at the American Heart Association meeting, New Orleans, Nov. 10, 2008.

Rheumatoid arthritis and the heart

Edwards CJ, Fisher D, van Staa T, Cooper C, Arden N. Myocardial infarction in rheumatoid arthritis: The effects of traditional risk factors, anti-hypertensive and lipid-lowering medication. Presented at the American College of Rheumatology meeting, San Francisco, Oct. 26, 2008.

Peters MJ, Symmons DPM, McCarey DW, Nurmohamed MT. Cardiovascular comorbidity in rheumatoid arthritis. Presented at the American College of Rheumatology meeting, San Francisco, Oct. 26, 2008.

Peters MJ, van Halm VP, Voskuyl AE, et al. Rheumatoid arthritis as important independent risk factor for incident cardiovascular disease. Presented at the American College of Rheumatology meeting, San Francisco, Oct. 26, 2008.