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Removing barriers to effective handover from one medical team or consultant to another are the focus of a major new project beginning at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).

New sub-group analysis from the landmark RE-LY study has shown dabigatran etexilate significantly reduces the risk of stroke compared to warfarin irrespective of a patient’s risk profile for stroke.

Data from a post-hoc analysis presented today at the 59th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology in Atlanta, Georgia, evaluated transition to Multaq® (dronedarone) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) or atrial flutter (AFL) following prior treatment with amiodarone.

Dr Sanjay Prasad, Consultant Cardiologist, Royal Brompton Hospital, London. describes the breakthrough with the availability of new implantable devices such as the EnRhythm MRI Surescan Pacemaker System from Medtronic. Described as the world’s first pacing system designed, tested and approved for MRI, it is hoped devices such as these will benefit and provide access for the estimated 50-75% of patients worldwide with implanted devices who are expected to need an MRI scan during the lifetime of their devices.

The Birkebeinerski race from the Norwegian town of Rena to the Olympic winter sports resort of Lillehammer takes place on 20 March this year. Recent research now suggest that participants may be at unusually high risk of developing atrial fibrillation.

New research published in the New England Journal of Medicine (1) quantifies for the first time the annual number of new cases of coronary heart disease (CHD) , stroke and Myocardial Infarction( MI) that could be prevented by populations reducing daily intakes of salt.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published their preliminary decision on 24th December 2009, not to recommend the use of the antiarrhythmic, dronedarone, for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) patients on the NHS. The decision has been met with protests from the medical community, politicians and the heart rhythm charity, Arrhythmia Alliance.

While lower intelligence scores – as reflected by low results on written or oral tests of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) have been associated with a raised risk of cardiovascular disease, no study has so far compared the relative strength of this association with other established risk factors such as obesity, smoking and high blood pressure.

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) welcomes the call from the Spanish Presidency of the European Union (EU) for the development of a “comprehensive strategy” on cardiovascular disease (CVD) at the European level. The call, which came at the close of the “Conference on Cardiovascular Disease”, held in Madrid, Spain, 18 to 19 February, included strategies for prevention, treatment, risk assessment, education and tackling the CVD inequalities that exist across Europe.