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Why is aspirin so popular in the management of cardiovascular disease? Few therapies in cardiovascular medicine have been studied so intently and adopted so widely as aspirin. In this Viewpoint, John Cleland discusses why he believes that the use of aspirin should be reviewed and withdrawn in many patients in whom it fails to show long-term benefit.
Many changes are taking place in terms of the devices and techniques available to perform heart valve repair and replacement. Advances have meant that interest has been raised in percutaneous and minimally invasive valvular interventions. This review outlines the evolution of and possible future for this subspecialty.
An accurate, noninvasive method of imaging the heart and coronary arteries has long been elusive. Multidetector row CT, however, seems a likely candidate to fill this gap. This modality can be safely used to obtain high-quality images in seconds. Michael Poon provides an update on the advances in the development of this technology.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common cause of arrhythmia, but the reason it occurs is not always apparent. Despite many efforts, the molecular basis for atrial fibrillation is still unclear. Genetic features of the disorder are, however, being elucidated. Robert Roberts provides here an overview of the major mutation findings so far.
