Further information: Endocrine Disorders and the Heart (see p2295) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

Rosiglitazone was evaluated in the RECORD trial [1] when added to the medication regime of patients using metformin, a sulfonylurea, or both to lower blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes. The use of the thiazolidinedione rosiglitazone has been the subject of clinical trials in the past, and the results of the RECORD trial still leave unresolved concerns regarding the safety of the drug.

RECORD was a randomized, open-label, dual-therapy trial conducted at …

Further information: Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Acute Myocardial Infarction (see p1021) and Drug-Eluting Coronary Stents (see p1031) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry (SCAAR) is a group of 47,967 patients in Sweden who received a coronary stent between 2003 and 2006, and of those patients, 10,294 received one drug-eluting stent and 18,659 received one bare-metal stent. An earlier paper [1] had reported results from the trial …

Further information: Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Acute Myocardial Infarction (see p1021) and Drug-Eluting Coronary Stents (see p1031) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The Harmonizing Outcomes with Revascularization and Stents in Acute Myocardial Infarction (HORIZONS-AMI) trial [1] was a prospective, open-label, multicenter, controlled trial involving patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) at 123 centers in 11 countries who were undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) as a management strategy.

Of 3006 patients who …

Further information: Medical Treatment of Unstable Angina, Acute Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, and Coronary Artery Spasm (see p937) and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Acute Myocardial Infarction (see p1021) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The Timing of Intervention in Acute Coronary Syndromes (TIMACS) trial was a randomized, parallel-group, multicenter trial with blinded adjudication of outcomes [1]. Of the total of 3031 patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) without ST-segment elevation, 1593 were randomized to …

Further information: Medical Treatment of Unstable Angina, Acute Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, and Coronary Artery Spasm (see p937) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The Early Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (Gp IIb/IIIa) Inhibition in Non-ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome (EARLY ACS) trial was conducted to evaluate optimum timing in the use of Gp IIb/IIIa inhibitors for patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes [1]. A strategy of early, routine administration of the Gp IIb/IIIa inhibitor, eptifibatide, was compared with delayed, provisional administration of the drug in reducing ischemic complications in 9420 …

Further information: Surgical Treatment of Coronary Heart Disease (see p1051) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The Surgical Treatment for Ischemic Heart Failure (STICH) trial [1] is the largest surgical clinical trial ever conducted and its overall objective was to define the role of surgical ventricular reconstruction (SVR) in the treatment of patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Left ventricular (LV) remodeling can occur after a patient suffers a myocardial infarction (MI), leading to increased heart failure. Medical therapy has been found to have a positive effect on remodeling, and …

Further information: The Medical Management of Heart Failure (see p1397) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

Heart Failure: A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of exercise training (HF-ACTION) was a multicenter, randomized controlled trial of 2331 patients who were enrolled from April 2003 to February 2007. It represents the largest multicenter, randomized controlled trial of exercise training in heart failure (HF) to date and involved 82 centers within the United States, Canada, and France. Patients were randomized to either an exercise training (ET) group plus usual care or a usual care group, and all patients had left ventricular ejection fractions (LVEF) of 35% or less and New York …

Further information: Peripheral Arterial Disease (see p1681) and Hypertension (see p1833) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The Prevention Regimen For Effectively avoiding Second Strokes (PRoFESS) trial was a double-blind, two-by-two factorial, active, and placebo-controlled study in patients who had suffered a recent ischemic stroke. Two studies from the trial were published in a recent issue of The New England Journal of Medicine [1,…

Further information: Hypertension (see p1833) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The purpose of this trial [1], the third European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study (ECASS III), was to test the hypotheses that the efficacy of alteplase administered in patients with acute ischemic stroke could safely extend to 3–4.5 hours after the onset of stroke symptoms.

ECASS III was a double-blind, parallel-group trial that enrolled patients from multiple centers across Europe. Patients were 18–80 years of age, had received a clinical diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke, had not suffered …