According to a 2009 survey by the American College of Cardiologists, more than 50% of cardiologists in the US have joined forces with their local hospital. In volatile, changing times, our panel gathered to discuss the pros and cons of retaining an independent practice vs integration with the hospital, how to cope with looming Medicare cuts and widespread uncertainty, and how to always put patient needs first.

Seven of the world's top cardiologists gathered in the "Windy City" to take on the issues raised by data released at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2010 Scientific Sessions.

Dr Valentin Fuster sits down with Drs C Noel Bairey Merz, Roger Blumenthal, Sunil Rao, Renu Virmani, Lars Wallentin, and James Young for a thought-provoking discussion on the difficulties of conducting a blind study with warfarin, why aldosterone antagonists are not being prescribed, and why DEFINE is making Dr Steven Nissen turn somersaults.

Although rewarding and mutually beneficial, the globalization of cardiovascular research creates a number of challenges relating to such issues as logistics, economics, ethical questions, training, and communication. Drs Harrington, Abizaid, and Sim sat down recently to discuss the obstacles to effective collaboration in the international research arena and the rewards of overcoming them.

Dr Robert Califf conducts a series of in-depth and personal interviews with his peers in the world of cardiology to find out what makes them tick, how they feel about the future, and what lessons they have learned during their exceptional careers.

Dr Califf sits down with the prominent European cardiologist Dr Paul Hugenholtz to talk about his experiences growing up in Holland during WWII, how he ended up in the US Air Force, and what took him from Boston back to Rotterdam, and his work for the European Society of Cardiology.

Join heartwire managing editor Shelley Wood and her guests Drs Franz Messerli and Harvey White as they discuss what is lost and what is gained when study results are simultaneously published in medical journals and presented at major meetings; whether journals are publishing for the sake of publishing; and how to deal with the overabundance of medical news sources.

Dr Robert Califf conducts a series of in-depth and personal interviews with his peers in the world of cardiology to find out what makes them tick, how they feel about the future, and what lessons they have learned during their exceptional careers.

Raised in the small town of Scotlandville, LA, Dr Clyde Yancy rose to become a world-renowned heart-failure specialist, president of the American Heart Association, and a leading cardiovascular and public-health scholar. Learn more about his professional life and outlook—his dedication to patient care and understanding the determinants of health—and his strength to defy adversity, move forward after personal tragedy, and raise two exceptional daughters.

Dr Robert Califf conducts a series of in-depth and personal interviews with his peers in the world of cardiology to find out what makes them tick, how they feel about the future, and what lessons they have learned during their exceptional careers.

In Episode 7 of the series, Dr Califf sits down with Dr Valentin Fuster to find out what it was like to grow up under a dictatorship, how he went from budding tennis pro in Barcelona to top cardiologist at Mount Sinai, and why, if he had to do it all over again, he would still do his training at the Mayo Clinic.

Quitting smoking, eating better, losing weight . . . what is the best way to help patients reduce their cardiovascular risk factors?

Dr Melissa Walton-Shirley talks to Drs Kornelia Kotseva and Franz Messerli about the RESPONSE trial, the challenges of getting patients to quit smoking and reduce their sodium intake, and why prevention is just so important.

The findings, from the Systolic Heart Failure Treatment with the If Inhibitor Ivabradine Trial (SHIFT), showed that patients with chronic systolic heart failure who added ivabradine (Procoralan, Servier) to the medications they were already taking showed a significant 18% drop in the composite rate of cardiovascular death or heart-failure hospitalization, compared with a placebo control group, over a period of about two years.

And an update to the European guidelines for use of device therapy in heart failure extends its strongest, most evidence-based recommendation—class I, level of evidence A—for use of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) from the traditional NYHA class 3-4 indication to include patients with "mild" NYHA class 2 heart failure.

What does this mean for the future of heart-failure treatment?

Join Drs Melissa Walton-Shirley, Clyde Yancy, and Cecilia Linde as they talk about the tantalizing results of SHIFT and how the new European guidelines may be setting a dangerous new precedent.

Results from the CURRENT-OASIS 7 study suggest that doubling the dose of clopidogrel for the first seven days in patients undergoing PCI is beneficial.

The CURE and ACTIVE A studies showed that loss-of-function CYP2C19 alleles did not have any effect with regard to safety or efficacy of clopidogrel in participating ACS and AF patients.

And yet another antiplatelet agent, elinogrel, passed initial safety and clinical hurdles in the INNOVATE PCI trial.

What does this mean for the future of antiplatelet therapy? Join Drs Keith Fox and Harvey White as they discuss the take-home messages from these and other important antiplatelet trials.