To access full text you may have to log in to your NHS Athens account (click here to register for free). If full text is not available then please email us to request a copy.
Do you have any research needs? Please do contact your Cardiology Librarian, Keith Nockels for any information and research assistance. Keith can be contacted directly on 0116 258 5558 or via email at: keith.nockels@uhl-tr.nhs.uk
Stable angina: management (CG126) - surveillance decision: NICE has decided after the new evidence that no update is necessary for this guideline. However, NICE will amend the guideline to include a footnote to the recommendations for third line drug treatments.
A comparison of different antibiotic regimens for the treatment of infective endocarditis Authors' conclusions: Limited and very low quality evidence suggested that there were no conclusive differences between antibiotic regimens in terms of cure rates or other relevant clinical outcomes. However, because of the very low quality evidence, this needs confirmation. The conclusion of this Cochrane review was based on randomised controlled trials with high risk of bias. Accordingly, current evidence does not support or reject any regimen of antibiotic therapy for treatment of infective endocarditis.
Implantable loop recorder versus conventional diagnostic workup for unexplained recurrent syncope Authors' conclusions: Our systematic review shows that there is no evidence that an ILR-based diagnostic strategy reduces long-term mortality as compared to a standard diagnostic assessment (very low quality evidence). No data were available for short-term all-cause mortality. Moderate quality evidence shows that an ILR-based diagnostic strategy increases the rate of aetiologic diagnosis as compared to a standard diagnostic pathway. No conclusive data were available on the other end-points analysed.
Further trials evaluating the effect of ILRs in the diagnostic strategy of people with recurrent unexplained syncope are warranted. Future research should focus on the assessment of the ability of ILRs to change clinically relevant outcomes, such as quality of life, syncope relapse and costs.
Cardiovascular disease prevention
The National Cardiovascular Intelligence Network has published a second edition of the CVD Primary Care Intelligence Packs. Each clinical commissioning group has a pack which provides practice level data on prevention, detection and management across a range of cardiovascular conditions: high cardiovascular (CVD) risk and hypertension; stroke and atrial fibrillation; diabetes; kidney disease; coronary heart disease; and heart failure.
Acute coronary syndrome guidance
The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, Healthcare Improvement network has published Acute coronary syndrome guideline 148. This guideline provides recommendations on the management of patients with acute coronary syndrome. It covers presentation, assessment and diagnosis, initial management, reperfusion therapy, risk stratification and non-invasive testing, invasive investigation and revascularisation, early pharmacological intervention and treatment of hypoxia and cardiogenic shock and includes a checklist of information for patients.
NHS Behind the Headlines - media stories explained
