Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'

Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'

📢 Just read the #AMALFI trial in JAMA 📰 — a landmark remote RCT of AF screening using 14-day ECG patches mailed to older adults at stroke risk 📦🫀. At 2.5 years, the patch group had a modestly higher AF detection rate (6.8% vs 5.4%, p=0.03) and increased anticoagulation use 💊🧠. Stroke rates were similar ⚖️.   🎯 Key takeaway: Remote, mail-based AF screening is feasible and nudges diagnosis rates — but will it move the needle on outcomes?   #AFib #StrokePrevention #RemoteMonitoring #ECG #Cardiology #RCT #JAMA #DigitalHealth #Geriatrics 🧓📉

Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'

🚨 New Trial Alert 🚨 Can we safely stop anticoagulation after AF ablation? The ALONE-AF Trial 🫀 suggests yes—in selected patients with no AF recurrence, stopping DOACs reduced major bleeding 🌟 without increasing stroke risk 🧠.   📉 0.3% vs 2.2% for the composite outcome (P = .02) 📍 Carefully monitored, low-risk patients may benefit most.   📝 Editorial: Recommends shared decision-making 🤝 & individualized rhythm monitoring. 📚 A potential shift in post-ablation care.   🔗 #AFib #Anticoagulation #EPTrials #CardioTwitter #StrokePrevention #JAMA...

Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'

🚨 New Findings from the HELP-MI Trial! 🇸🇪🧪 Can routine Helicobacter pylori screening during acute myocardial infarction (MI) hospitalization prevent upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB)?   💉 Over 18,000 patients across 35 Swedish hospitals 📉 Result: No significant reduction in UGIB overall (RR 0.90; P=0.18) 🔍 BUT: Clear benefit in patients with anemia (RR 0.44–0.64) and chronic kidney disease (RR 0.75)   🧠 Key Takeaway: Routine screening isn’t broadly warranted—but targeted testing in high-risk AMI patients may be the smarter path forward.   📊...

Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'

🩺 New Insights on Apixaban for VTE! 📢 The HI-PRO trial challenges the old 3-month rule for provoked VTE. 📉 Extended low-dose apixaban (2.5 mg BID) reduced recurrent VTE from 10.0% ➡️ 1.3% with minimal major bleeding. 🎯 Editorial in NEJM urges a shift from binary labels (“provoked vs unprovoked”) to a patient-centered, risk-adapted approach. 🧠 Art meets evidence in the decision to extend anticoagulation. 💬 Let’s rethink how we label, risk-stratify, and treat.   📚 #VTE #Apixaban #Anticoagulation #NEJM #HI_PRO #Thrombosis #PrecisionMedicine...

Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'

🌏 Zhu Xi (1130–1200), a master of Neo-Confucianism, reshaped Chinese philosophy with his focus on rationality, self-cultivation & education. His commentaries on the Four Books guided civil service exams for centuries across East Asia. 📚✨   #Leadership #Philosophy #History #Confucianism

Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'

Just read the latest from NEJM? The PIpELINe Trial 🇮🇹 changes how we approach cardiac rehab in older adults post-MI! 🧓❤️ 🎯 A 12-month, multidomain intervention — risk factor control, nutrition 🥗, and Otago-based exercise 👟 — cut CV death/hospitalization from 20.6% → 12.6% (P=0.01)! 📉 Hospitalizations for heart failure dropped 7.1% → 1.5%. No serious adverse events. And yes — better gait speed, handgrip strength, and quality of life too. This is how we shift from survival ➡️ functional independence in aging populations. 🙌 👇 Would you apply this model...

Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'

🚨 New Meta-Analysis Alert! 💊🫀 Can β-blockers benefit patients post-MI with mildly reduced ejection fraction (LVEF 40–49%)?   📊 An individual patient data meta-analysis (REBOOT, BETAMI, DANBLOCK, CAPITAL-RCT) shows a 25% reduction in the composite outcome of death, MI, or HF with β-blockers vs. control (HR 0.75; p=0.031) — even in the absence of clinical heart failure.   🌍 Consistent across trials and countries. Most benefit seen in patients <75 years. 📚 This could shift guidelines for a large overlooked population.   🔗 Read more in The Lancet (Aug...

Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'

🚫💊 Should We Rethink Beta-Blockers Post-MI? In the landmark REBOOT trial (NEJM, 2025), beta-blockers failed to reduce mortality, reinfarction, or heart failure hospitalizations in post-MI patients with preserved ejection fraction (>40%).   💡 A modern, pragmatic trial across 109 centers (Spain + Italy 🇪🇸🇮🇹) with 8438 patients — shaking the foundation of our long-held post-MI practices. 👩‍⚕️ Signals of potential harm in women and STEMI subgroups raise questions, not answers. 📉 Should guidelines change? Or should practice just evolve?   #Cardiology...

Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'

🚨 New NEJM Study Alert! 🩺💔 Do beta-blockers still help after a heart attack if there’s no heart failure? 🤔   In the BETAMI–DANBLOCK trial (🇩🇰+🇳🇴, n=5574), beta-blocker therapy in post-MI patients with preserved or mildly reduced LVEF (≥40%) modestly reduced the composite outcome of death or major cardiovascular events 🧠📉   📌 Primary endpoint: 14.2% (BB) vs. 16.3% (no BB) → HR 0.85, p=0.03 💡 Especially lowered risk of recurrent MI (HR 0.73)   🧠 Even in the era of PCI, DAPT & statins, beta-blockers may still bring benefit —...

Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'

💥 New NEJM Trial Alert! A modest 0.3 mmol/L rise in potassium (via MRA, KCl, or diet) significantly reduced arrhythmias, ICD shocks, and hospitalizations in high-risk ICD patients ⚡🫀   📉 HR 0.76 for the composite endpoint 🔢 NNT = 12.3 over 3.3 years 🍌 Safe, scalable, and globally relevant   👉 Time to rethink “normal” K⁺ levels in cardiology! #Cardiology #Electrophysiology #NEJM #ICD #Potassium #POTCAST