Current cardiology reports
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Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are novel vaporising devices that, similar to nicotine replacement treatments, deliver nicotine but in lower amounts and less swiftly than tobacco smoking. However, they enjoy far greater popularity than these medications due in part to their behaviour replacement characteristics. Evidence for their efficacy as cessation aids, based on several randomised trials of now obsolete e-cigarettes, suggests a modest effect equivalent to nicotine patch. ⋯ Population effects, such as re-normalising smoking behaviour, are a concern. Clinicians should be knowledgeable about these products. If patients who smoke are unwilling to quit or cannot succeed using evidence-based approaches, e-cigarettes may be an option to be considered after discussing the limitations of current knowledge.
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Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of developing cardiovascular (CV) complications such as myocardial infarction, heart failure, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and CV-associated mortality. Strict glycemic control in diabetics has shown improvement in microvascular complications related to diabetes but has been unable to demonstrate major effects on macrovascular complications including myocardial infarction and stroke. Conventional therapies for diabetes that include insulin, metformin, sulfonylureas (SU), and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors have limited and/or controversial data on CV safety based on observational studies not designed or powered to assess CV safety of these medications. ⋯ To date, novel diabetes therapies including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma agonists, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP 1) analogs, and sodium-glucose transporter-2 (SGL2) inhibitors have been evaluated in CV safety trials. Results from the first major CV outcome studies in type 2 diabetes, SAVOR-TIMI 53 and EXAMINE, have shown that neither saxagliptin nor alogliptin had increases in major CV events relative to placebo in high-risk patients. Ongoing and future trials will elucidate the CV safety for other DPP-4 inhibitors compared to SUs and the GLP-1 agonists versus placebo.
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Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is less frequent than ischemic stroke or intracerebral haemorrhage. Its incidence is comparable to that of acute bacterial meningitis in adults. Because of the increased use of magnetic resonance imaging (MR) for investigating patients with acute and subacute headaches and new onset seizures, CVT are now being diagnosed with increasing frequency. ⋯ CVT patients may experience recurrent seizures. Prophylaxis with antiepileptics is recommended after the first seizures, in particular in those with hemispheric lesions. There are several ongoing multicentre registries sand trials which will improve evidence-based management of CVT in the near future.
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Well into the second decade since its conception, cell transplantation continues to undergo intensive evaluation for the treatment of myocardial infarction. At a mechanistic level, its objectives remain to replace lost cardiac cell mass with new functioning cardiomyocytes and vascular cells, thereby minimizing infarct size and scar formation, and improving clinical outcomes by preventing adverse left ventricular remodeling and recurrent ischemic events. Many different cell types, including pluripotent stem cells and various adult-derived progenitor cells, have been shown to have therapeutic potential in preclinical studies, while early phase human trial experience has provided divergent outcomes and fundamental lessons, emphasizing that there remain key issues to address and challenges to overcome before cell therapy can be applied to wider clinical practice. The purpose of this review is to provide a balanced update on recent seminal developments in this exciting field and look to the next important steps to ensure its forward progression.
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Numerous data have pointed to an association between migraine and cardiovascular diseases. The majority of the available data have indicated that migraine with aura can be considered a risk factor for ischemic stroke, whereas migraine without aura cannot be reliably considered as such. High frequency of attacks and a recent onset of migraine have been related to an increased ischemic stroke risk. ⋯ At the moment, there are no reliable features that may indicate which subjects, across the overall migraine population, will develop vascular events and so far, no drugs are recommended for the vascular prevention in migraineurs unless other clear indications are present. In general, the acute treatment and the secondary prevention measures of a patient with stroke who has a history of migraine do not differ from that of other stroke patients. There is currently no direct evidence to support that a migraine prophylactic treatment will reduce future stroke risk in secondary prevention.