RESEARCH ROUNDUP

Cardiac patients make good drivers

Drivers who have suffered a cardiac arrest, some of whom require implantable defibrillators for their condition, have no greater chance of being in a motor vehicle accident resulting from a loss of consciousness than drivers in the general U.S. population, according to an article published in a recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Toshio Akiyama, professor of medicine, director of the Arrhythmia Monitoring and Pacemaker Service at the Medical Center, and principal investigator of the study, reports that many patients who experience cardiac arrest resume driving soon after an episode, and although there exists the potential for another episode to occur while driving, accidents are uncommon--occurring at less than half the rate found in the general U.S. population.

"We found that these patients who are at risk for cardiac episodes had no greater risk of being involved in an accident than a healthy driver with no history of cardiac problems," says Akiyama.

"This data may assist physicians in determining which patients should be allowed to drive and how soon after suffering from an arrhythmia episode," he says. "Of course, each patient is different, and it is up to physicians to judge on a case-by-case basis."

For additional information visit www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/News/risk.html.

Huntington's study raises questions

In the largest clinical study ever of a potential treatment for Huntington's disease, neither of two compounds tested had a statistically significant effect on slowing the progression of the disease. But the study leaves open the possibility that a popular nutritional supplement, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), may help slow the decline of patients, though physicians say more evidence is needed before the treatment can be recommended.

The Medical Center's Huntington Study Group that conducted the study, including principal investigator Karl Kieburtz, professor of neurology at the Medical Center, and co-investigator Walter Koroshetz of Massachusetts General Hospital, say there weren't enough patients in the study to say that the slowing of decline was definitive.

"This is an interesting lead, but we cannot recommend using CoQ10 without further research. It's premature to make a recommendation until we can define whether there really is a benefit," says Kieburtz.

Huntington's is an inherited disorder that affects about 30,000 people in the United States.

For additional information visit www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/News/nonew.html.

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