Philadelphia, PA– (September 24, 2012) – Wolters Kluwer Health is pleased to announce the publication of Cardiovascular Endocrinology, a new online, peer-reviewed journal committed to fostering effective collaboration between cardiologists and endocrinologists in addressing diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and related diseases and conditions. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW), a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, is the publisher of record for the journal.

“The growing global prevalence of obesity-associated diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia makes it imperative that cardiologists, endocrinologists, and others have a forum for new treatment and therapeutic developments. The new journal aspires to provide this forum by ensuring that researchers and clinicians have access to research and opinion that bridges these disciplines,” said Andrew J. Krentz, Editor-in-Chief of Cardiovascular Endocrinology.

“We’re pleased to announce the official launch of Cardiovascular Endocrinology journal that brings together these specialists to focus research on some of the world’s most widespread and intractable health problems,” said Jayne Marks, Vice President Publishing, Wolters Kluwer Health Medical Research. “With LWW’s well-regarded portfolio in both cardiology and endocrinology combined with our strong global reach, we’re encouraged about the contributions the journal will bring to these disciplines to improve patient care.”

Highlights of the inaugural issue include original research on a potential role for natriuretic peptide therapy in human cardiac ischemia and a review article on the role of melatonin in hypertension. In addition, subscribers have an opportunity to earn CME credit—provided by the Lippincott CME Institute—through LWW’s XtraCredit mobile application.

The editorial board encourages prospective authors to submit original manuscripts for publication in Cardiovascular Endocrinology. For more information, including specific instructions and guidelines, visit the journal’s website at http://www.cardiovascularendocrinology.com.

The online quarterly journal is available to individual subscribers via LWW’s online journal platform and institutional access is provided through OvidSP, the world’s leading medical research platform from Ovid, also a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

About Cardiovascular Endocrinology

Cardiovascular Endocrinology publishes peer-reviewed research in vascular disease, endocrinology, and metabolism. Particular emphasis is placed on studies that illuminate the interaction between these disciplines. The journal serves as a single resource for the cardiology, endocrinology and metabolism research, and clinical communities. High quality state-of-the-art reviews, invited editorials, and expert commentaries place original articles in context at the interface of basic and clinical research.

About Wolters Kluwer Health

Wolters Kluwer Health (Philadelphia, PA) is a leading global provider of information, business intelligence and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry. Serving more than 150 countries and territories worldwide, Wolters Kluwer Health’s customers include professionals, institutions and students in medicine, nursing, allied health and pharmacy. Major brands include Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Ovid^®, Medknow, UpToDate^®, Medi-Span^®, Facts & Comparisons^®, Pharmacy OneSource^®, Lexicomp^® and ProVation^® Medical.

Wolters Kluwer Health is part of Wolters Kluwer, a market-leading global information services company. Wolters Kluwer has 2011 annual revenues of €3.4 billion ($4.7 billion), employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide, and maintains operations in over 40 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

Contacts:

Robert Dekker
Director of Communications
Wolters Kluwer Health
+1 (215) 521-8928
Robert.Dekker@wolterskluwer.com

Connie Hughes
Director, Marketing Communications
Wolters Kluwer Health Medical Research
+1 (646) 674-6348
Connie.Hughes@wolterskluwer.com

Philadelphia, Pa. (August 6, 2012) – In the Canadian healthcare system, patients with longer than recommended waitlist times for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery are at increased risk of dying in the hospital, reports Medical Care.  The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

The risk of death is one-third lower for patients with shorter delays to CABG surgery, compared to those with “excessive delays,” according to the new report by Boris G. Sobolev, PhD, of the University of British Columbia and colleagues.  They write, “Our results have implications for health systems that provide universal coverage and that budget the annual number of procedures.”

Risk Increases with ‘Excessive’ CABG Waiting Times

The researchers analyzed data on approximately 9,600 patients undergoing CABG surgery in British Columbia between 1992 and 2006.  All procedures were performed on an elective basis—that is, not as an urgent or emergency procedure—after the patient was registered on a waiting list.

Waitlist time was analyzed for association with the risk of in-hospital death, accounting for the role of other known risk factors.  Risk was compared for patients with:

• Short delays—within two weeks for “semiurgent” and 6 weeks for “nonurgent” procedures—as recommended by the Canadian Cardiac Society (CCS).
• Prolonged delays—within 6 to 12 weeks—as recommended by British Columbia provincial guidelines.
• Excessive delays—longer than either set of recommendations.

Overall, about 12.5 percent of patients had short delays to CABG surgery, 21.5 percent had prolonged delays, and 66 percent had excessive delays.  Patients with shorter delays tended to be sicker and to have more risk factors.

The absolute risk of in-hospital death was relatively small:  1.2 percent.  However, risk increased from 0.6 percent for patients with short delays, to 1.1 percent for those with prolonged delays, to 1.3 percent for those with excessive delays.

Once other risk factors were taken into account, the odds of death were about two-thirds lower for the patients with short versus excessive delays.  There was no significant difference in risk for patients in the prolonged delay category.

In the Canadian healthcare system and similar systems, limited capacity requires “budgeting” the number of CABG surgeries (and other complex procedures) within a given time.  Guidelines for CABG waitlist times were made on the basis of expert opinion—with “little evidence to support the recommended target times,” the authors note.

The new study supports the stricter CCS guidelines for performing elective CABG surgery.  “We found that among patients who underwent the operation within the CCS target times, in-hospital death was one-third as likely among those who had to wait longer than provincial guidelines,” Dr Sobolev and colleagues write.  However, they note that two-thirds of patients had waiting times exceeding even the less-stringent provincial guidelines.

Dr Sobolev and colleagues believe their study provides evidence to inform decisions regarding capacity planning versus access time for CABG, with the goal of minimizing adverse outcomes associated with excessive waitlist time.  The results also have implications for other models of government-sponsored medicine providing universal coverage for eligible patients—including the U.S. Veterans Administration system. 

Read the full article

About Medical Care

Rated as one of the top ten journals in health care administration, Medical Care is devoted to all aspects of the administration and delivery of health care.  This scholarly journal publishes original, peer-reviewed papers documenting the most current developments in the rapidly changing field of health care.  Medical Care provides timely reports on the findings of original investigations into issues related to the research, planning, organization, financing, provision, and evaluation of health services.  In addition, numerous special supplementary issues that focus on specialized topics are produced with each volume.  Medical Care is the official journal of the Medical Care Section of the American Public Health Association

About Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) is a leading international publisher of trusted content delivered in innovative ways to practitioners, professionals and students to learn new skills, stay current on their practice, and make important decisions to improve patient care and clinical outcomes. LWW is part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information, business intelligence and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry. Wolters Kluwer Health is part of Wolters Kluwer, a market-leading global information services company with 2011 annual revenues of €3.4 billion ($4.7 billion).

Contacts:

Robert Dekker
Director of Communications
Wolters Kluwer Health
+1 (215) 521-8928
Robert.Dekker@wolterskluwer.com

Connie Hughes
Director, Marketing Communications
Wolters Kluwer Health Medical Research
+1 (646) 674-6348
Connie.Hughes@wolterskluwer.com