Preclinical Cardiovascular Research Lacks Methodological Rigor, Hindering Medical Progress.
The study looked at how well preclinical cardiovascular research studies are designed and reported. They found that important elements like randomization, blinding, and sample size estimation are often missing. These shortcomings have not improved much in the past decade, except in stroke research. The quality of stroke studies has gotten better recently. This lack of rigor in preclinical research could slow down progress in cardiovascular medicine.