Recent concerns over implantable cardioverter-defibrillators afford cardiologists the opportunity to engage in a much larger and more essential discussion: what is the status of evidence-based medicine in contemporary cardiology?

Nine of the world's top cardiologists gathered in Atlanta, GA to take on the issues raised by data released at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 2010 Scientific Sessions.

Dr Valentin Fuster moderates this at-times blood-pressure–raising debate between Drs Peter Berger, Anne Curtis, Tim Gardner, Tony Gershlick, Harlan Krumholz, Darren McGuire, Ileana Piña, and Rita Redberg.

Fuster and his panel of experts discuss the need for an individualized approach to treatment and the challenges of modifying behavior and lifestyle as they look at the results of the INVEST, ACCORD, and NAVIGATOR trials and share their comments on EVEREST II, REAL-LATE, and ZEST-LATE

Nine of the world's top cardiologists gathered in Atlanta, GA to take on the issues raised by data released at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 2010 Scientific Sessions.

Dr Valentin Fuster moderates this at-times blood-pressure–raising debate between Drs Peter Berger, Anne Curtis, Tim Gardner, Tony Gershlick, Harlan Krumholz, Darren McGuire, Ileana Piña, and Rita Redberg.

Fuster and his panel of experts discuss the need for an individualized approach to treatment and the challenges of modifying behavior and lifestyle as they look at the results of the INVEST, ACCORD, and NAVIGATOR trials and share their comments on EVEREST II, REAL-LATE, and ZEST-LATE

While the number of female physicians in cardiology nearly doubled in the past decade and equal numbers of women and men are graduating from medical schools, women still account for less than 20% of all cardiologists in the US.

Dr Melissa Walton-Shirley sits down with fellow female cardiologists Drs Lynne Stevenson, Judith Hochman, and Suzanne Oparil to discuss the issues facing women in cardiology today.

The HER0-2 consent substudy, published in the Lancet in 2003, found that only 18% of study patients with acute MI read the patient information sheet before either giving or refusing their consent to care. Is patient consent any better-informed today, or have the demands of clinical research turned the consent form into a legal document that doesn't address patients' needs?

Dr Bob Harrington moderates a discussion with Drs Deepak Bhatt and Harvey White about the complex ethical and legal issues that surround informed consent and its relationship to patient care and clinical research.

In recent years, studies have shown that the introduction of smoking bans in public places is associated with significant reductions in the incidence of acute MI, an effect that appears to be sustained over an extended period. With growing evidence of the link between secondhand smoke and adverse health effects, has the time come for Americans to demand federal laws that ban smoking in public places?

Join moderator Dr Melissa Walton-Shirley and her guests Nancy Brown and Dr Clyde Yancy from the AHA, as they discuss what might be today's most important public-health issue.

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 Five of the series, Dr Califf talks to Dr Carl Pepine about his passion for research and his concerns about the encroachment of bureaucracy and hasty reform that cloud over a career choice that is less enticing to today's brightest students than when he was starting out in medicine.

Novel wireless technologies, remote monitoring, individualized medicine, and exciting advances in imaging point toward a more active role for patients in the management of their cardiovascular care and to a change in the relationship between doctor and patient. As technological advances are fine-tuned and more widely adopted, how will patient care and the practice of medicine change?

Join Dr Eric Topol as he shares his predictions for the future with heartwire's managing editor, Shelley Wood, and explains why the stethoscope will be obsolete by 2016.

If passed, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act will require yearly reporting by manufacturers of drugs, devices, and biological and medical supplies of all payments to physicians or physician-owned organizations over a cumulative value of $100. Under the act, these reports would be then made available to the public.

Join heartwire's Shelley Wood as she discusses the Sunshine Act and other issues of disclosure and ethics not covered by the legislation with Drs Bob Harrington and Roger Blumenthal.

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 Four of the series, Dr Califf talks to Dr Ray Gibbons about the core values he learned in his career in science and medicine and why they are imperative for physicians to keep in mind when contemplating the future of healthcare reform.