Do patients with resolved AF have a higher risk of strokes, asks Jack O’Sullivan Patients with Atrial Fibrillation (AF) are five times more likely to have a stroke than patients without AF. AF can be reversed (sinus rhythm restored) via catheter ablation or cardioversion (either electrical or chemical). Patients can also spontaneously revert to sinus […]
Category: Jack O’Sullivan
Undertreatment of mitral regurgitation
“All evidence, especially our lifelong population-based data, point towards a substantial unmet need for treatment of mitral regurgitation.” Jack O’Sullivan Despite being the most common heart valvular disease, it is unclear how often patients with mitral regurgitation are treated. This is concerning because early treatment is beneficial [1]. A recent study, published in the […]
Do I need the drugs, doc? Heart failure drugs with preserved ejection fraction.
Evidence suggests heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction could benefit from beta-blocker treatment, guidelines do not. Jack O’Sullivan There is a well-established list of medications that work in heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction. However, it is unclear if these drugs are clinically effective in patients with heart failure with a preserved […]
Five reasons why diagnostic studies fail
The number of studies assessing the diagnostic accuracy of tests is growing rapidly, but many studies fail to impact on practice due to five fundamental flaws in their methods. Jack O’Sullivan Diagnostic accuracy studies aim to determine how good a new test is at diagnosing a disease compared with a current test. To do this, […]
Controversies in PSA screening
40 years after its discovery, a re-analysis of the two largest trials to date, controversially suggests PSA screening may actually be beneficial. Jack O’Sullivan Most healthcare organisations do not recommend PSA screening for prostate cancer (USPSTF, Public Health England), mainly in response to conflicting evidence about the benefits and clear evidence of harms. PSA […]