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STOKE-ON-TRENT, United Kingdom  — Performing PCI via the radial artery does not increase the risk of neurological complications when compared with conventional transfemoral PCI, a new European analysis shows [1]. Researchers say the results are reassuring, given that more and more operators are beginning to switch over to the transradial approach for various procedures. "This analysis of almost 350 000 PCI procedures has not found any increase in the risk of neurologic complications associated with transradial access via either the right (the predominant radial artery used) or left radial artery," write Dr Karim Ratib  (University Hospital of North Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, UK) and colleagues in their study, published online December 26, 2012 in the  American Heart Journal . "The results are reassuring, as the data were collected over a transitional period in UK access-site practice, during which transradial access increased from 17.1% to 50.8% of all PCI cases

Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are consistently slower and less accurate than healthy control persons in making semantic decisions in response to stimuli with words and images, new research shows. Brady Kirchberg and colleagues at Hofstra North Shore–Long Island Jewish School of Medicine, Manhasset, New York, found that both MCI and AD groups were not only less accurate and slower than healthy control participants in making semantic decisions in response to word stimuli but also that the deficit worsened as the sizes of the objects being compared became more similar. When line drawings were used as stimuli, the size of the drawings themselves had an undue influence upon semantic knowledge judgments in the 2 groups, investigators add. Performance on the semantic distance task was also a "strong and significant" predictor of everyday functional capacity. Dr. Terry Goldberg "When MCI/AD patients have to

Biogen Idec reports that topline results of a phase 3 trial investigating dexpramipexole in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) failed to show a benefit on primary or secondary outcomes. The trial, called EMPOWER and including 943 patients with ALS, failed to meet the primary outcome, a joint rank analysis of function and survival called the Combined Assessment of Function and Survival. Other endpoints, including functional decline, survival, or respiratory decline, and subgroup analyses also failed to show efficacy with treatment, overall or for any subpopulation. "Based on these results, Biogen Idec will discontinue development of dexpramipexole in ALS," a statement from the company said. "We share the disappointment of members of the ALS community, who had hoped that dexpramipexole would offer a meaningful treatment option," Douglas E. Williams, PhD, executive vice president of research and development at Biogen Idec, said in the company st