Mentinis, Mihalis

Scherer, Manual

Winkler, Ira

Pickover, Clifford A

Aitken, Robert, 1917-2010

McLeod, Doug

Rotenstreich, Nathan, 1914-1993

Bardin, Hillel

Increased attention has focused on shared decision-making (SDM) and use of decision aids for treatment decisions in cardiology. In this issue of JAMA Cardiology, Coylewright et al report the results of a rigorously performed pilot study on the use of a decision aid to facilitate SDM for patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS) at high or prohibitive risk for surgery considered for transcatheter aortic valve replacement vs medical therapy. Comparisons were made between encounters before clinicians were trained to use a decision aid and the first and fifth encounters after a decision aid was used. The patient-clinician interactions were audio recorded and later coded by independent reviewers using a validated measure to assess SDM. This mixed-methods study found that SDM significantly improved in a stepwise manner from the initial usual care encounter (before use of a decision aid) to the first and then fifth encounters after implementation of the decision aid. Along with this improvement in SDM, patients (n = 35) demonstrated increased knowledge about their treatment choices and reported increased satisfaction in their care with no increase in decisional conflict. In contrast, clinicians (n = 6) reported that they believed they already engaged in SDM prior to use of the decision aid and, after multiple uses of the decision aid, believed patients did not understand or benefit from this tool. The disconnect between clinician and patient perspectives was sobering and has implications for the adoption of decision aids or other tools to facilitate SDM in the clinical setting. Notable limitations of the study, which are acknowledged by the authors, include (1) small sample size (of clinicians and patients); (2) the decision aid is most useful for the relatively smaller number of patients at high or prohibitive risk for surgery for whom transcatheter aortic valve replacement and medical therapy may both be reasonable options; and (3) the lack of diversity in the clinicians (all male), which reflects the current demographics of interventional cardiology and cardiac surgery.

This mixed-methods pilot study examines whether the repeated use of a decision aid by heart teams was associated with greater shared decision-making, along with improved patient-centered outcomes and clinicians’ attitudes about decision aids.

This cohort study assesses cardiovascular functional reserve before and after kidney transplant in patients with end-stage renal disease.

Lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels remains a mainstay of cardiovascular disease prevention, but gaps in treatment remain, even in persons with hypercholesterolemia and greatly elevated LDL-C levels. Although well-described gene variants in the apolipoprotein B (APOB), low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) genes explain small but important fractions of monogenic hypercholesterolemia, recent attention has turned to prognostication of cardiovascular disease using polygenic risk scores (PRS) that incorporate common genetic variants derived from large-scale genome-wide association studies of lipid subfractions. Earlier PRS considered only variants with genome-wide significance, and newer studies have focused on methods that better capture the variance conferred by millions of variants, suggesting an ability to identify risk equivalent to monogenic mutations. There remains a gap in evidence from prospective observational studies or treatment trials regarding the appropriate placement of PRS in risk assessment and lipid treatment decisions relative to information on rare monogenic gene variants, particularly in multiethnic populations.

This randomized clinical trial assesses the effectiveness of an implantable loop recorder plus 24-hour Holter electrocardiographic monitoring vs standard 24-hour Holter electrocardiographic monitoring alone for detecting arrhythmias in pregnant women with structural heart disease and/or symptoms suggestive of arrhythmias.

As the last phase of campaigning picks up steam, Modi should clearly advocate economic growth and the positive impact it has on all Indians.

Lacking a cohesive national campaign, Kejriwal has yet again taken recourse to insurgent tactics – projecting himself as Modi’s only rival when Congress is yet to declare its nominee for Varanasi.

Despite the series of protests leading up to the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil, today's kick-off match between Brazil and Croatia in Sao Paulo should bring the focus back on action on the football pitch.

Stefanakis, Alexandros, 1982-

Berkes, Fikret

Australia. Bureau of Meteorology

Kondo, Manabu, author

Castro, Peter, author

Block, Walter, 1941- author

Davis, John K., author

Schwartz, Judith D., author

Bertness, Mark D., 1949-

Nielsen, Larry A., 1948- author