Cardiology

Though new therapies are still in the distant future, advances in diagnosis may be on the horizon.

Distinguishing pulmonary arterial hypertension in patients is a difficult early diagnosis. But seeking out a combination of unexplained symptoms is a good first step.

Either one is fine – the point is to make sure the practice stays a step ahead of the next new drug class causing the problem.

Experts advise that primary care physicians give pause next time they treat a patient with unexplained dyspnea—could it be pulmonary hypertension?

Though the commonly accepted ratio is 3:1 women, longtime clinicians suggest PAH ratio is more likely closer to 4:1.

Nicola Hanania, MD, MS, director of the Airways Clinical Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, explains the latest research on COPD treatments and outlines how they all measure.

The ID CORE XT is the second molecular assay approved for use in transfusion medicine and the first to report results as genotypes.

Rivaroxaban (Xarelto) is now indicated to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events in patients with chronic coronary artery disease or peripheral artery disease.

Using data registries from initial trials, companies such as Actelion will be looking to expand research beyond the first first or second year of care in patients with PAH.

Once physicians know if it's the cause of PAH or just simply an overlap, comorbidities have to be closely monitored as disease progression.

Why delving into the symptoms of the most at-need patients is critical for care.

The addition of a couple of new drug classes at the turn of the century have given clinicians the greenlight to stack therapies at initial treatment.