Medicine: Mitral valve / Stroke / COPD

This month, we continue with the last three important medical topics from 2018. Next month we will move on to 2019 and discuss the most important medical topics from the year 2019.
The first medical news today: The mitral valve of the heart is one of the four valves of the heart. Mitral valve regurgitation is an imperfect and leaky closure of this valve. The most common treatments are drug treatment and open surgery on the heart. Can the open surgery be avoided? In a clinical study called COAPT, 614 patients were randomised to two groups. One group continued to receive optimal drug treatment. The other group continued to receive optimal drug treatment plus had a repair of the mitral valve of the heart, but not through open surgery on the heart, but through a catheter intervention. This catheter intervention was successful. Slowly, it will prevail.
The second medical news today: The treatment of a stroke or a TIA (transient ischaemic attack = a mini-stroke) is well established. Can this treatment be improved? In the clinical study called “POINT,” 4881 patients were randomised to two groups. The first group received only aspirin. The second group received aspirin plus clopidogrel. There was a good result and a bad result. However, if you take a closer look, there also was a time factor. From this it can be deduced that the administration of aspirin plus clopidogrel (also known as dual therapy) is beneficial particularly in the first week of treatment after a stroke or a TIA.
The third medical news today: A meta-analysis confirmed today’s common clinical practice in patients with COPD. A gradual increase to triple therapy (an antimuscarinic plus a beta-agonist plus a corticosteroid for inhalation), which is de facto standard of care anyway, leads to good clinical results.