Fractional Flow Reserve–Guided PCI for Stable CAD

The utility of PCI in stable CAD is unclear. Fractional flow reserve (FFR) may be used to stratify patients between those who will benefit from PCI from those who will not.

A randomized clinical trial published in NEJM examined this question. Patients with FFR<0.8 were randomized to PCI or medical therapy. Although the primary endpoint included a soft endpoint (revascularization) there was significant decrease in the primary endpoint among patients who underwent PCI (8.1 vs 19.5%). Further, the hard endpoints (death or nonfatal myocardial infarction) were also reduced significantly in FFR patients (4.6% vs 8.0%). Quite interestingly, the individuals with FFR greater than 0.8 met primary endpoint as often as those with FFR<0.8 and PCI (8.1 vs. 9.0%) although this was not a direct comparison group.

Interesting results! ……… Perhaps practice changing?

Thunder and Spark–Cluster computing made easy (a little)

Here it is

Epiviz–an interactive visual tool for genomics data

Epiviz is an interactive visualization tool for functional genomics data. It supports genome navigation like other genome browsers, but allows multiple visualizations of data within genomic regions using scatterplots, heatmaps and other user-supplied visualizations.

Cant Imagine this can happen

Even in this day and age when almost everything is available on internet how can this happen? Perhaps no one who was hiring or promoting this dude knew how to use internet. Someone can lie about his/her qualifications (such as getting a PhD) and no one checks before hiring for assistant or associate professor? Shouldn’t folks at NUS, WVU and VCU be ashamed of their gross negligence?

Maximizing Public Data Sources for Sequencing and GWAS Studies

An interesting presentation

CONFIRM-HF - Replete Iron in Heart Failure Patients?

Findings from the CONFIRM-HF (Ferric CarboxymaltOse evaluatioN on perFormance in patients with IRon deficiency in coMbination with chronic Heart Failure) trial, point to a simple and safe solution for heart failure patients with iron deficiency who can experience significant and sustainable improvements in functional capacity and quality of life as well as reduced risk of hospital admission for worsening heart failure by iron supplementation.

CONFIRM-HF is a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, which enrolled 304 stable, symptomatic heart failure patients from 41 sites across nine European countries. All patients had iron deficiency, defined as a serum ferritin level < 100 ng/mL, or between 100 and 300 ng/mL with transferrin saturation < 20%. Subjects were randomized to receive either intravenous iron (n=152), given as ferric carboxymaltose solution (FCM), or a normal saline placebo (n=152), for 52 weeks. Completion of the six-minute walk test (6MWT) was required at baseline, and the primary endpoint of the study was improvement in this test at week 24.

Compared to placebo-treated subjects, those treated with FCM completed 33 extra meters in the 6MWT at week 24 (p=0.002), 42 extra meters at week 36, and 36 extra meters at week 52 (both p<0.001) and the improvement was seen in all subgroups. Despite the reduction in hospitalizations among FCM-treated patients, the number of deaths was similar in both groups, suggesting a one-year follow-up may not be long enough to detect differences in mortality.
Adverse events were mild, and occurred at a similar rate in both groups.