Sudden cardiac death in patients with heart failure is a major concern in the United States. A Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute team will investigate how the microscopic spaces surrounding heart cells affect connections called gap junctions.
Credentialed press representatives are invited to attend The Society of Thoracic Surgeons 53rd Annual Meeting, Exhibition, and Press Conference, which will include late-breaking scientific research, thought-provoking lectures, cutting-edge technologies, and innovative cardiothoracic surgery products—some that are not yet available on the market. Cardiothoracic surgeons and other health care experts also will provide an update on Mycobacterium chimaera infections related to heater-cooler devices used in cardiac surgery.
The lower a neighborhood’s socioeconomic status is, the more likely its black residents are to develop heart disease and stroke, according to a new Drexel University-led public health study.
Can a failing heart recover? For many years, the answer to that question was unequivocally “No.” But as the University of Utah School of Medicine’s annual Utah Cardiac Recovery Symposium (U-CARS) will explore on Jan. 12-13, advances in treating heart failure are giving physicians, surgeons and researchers reason to hope the deadly disease might one day be defeated. Watch the symposium live online at http://www.kaltura.com/tiny/guvl3
The UAB study, an updated meta-analysis of the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators for non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, provides further support to the current American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology guidelines and challenges the recently published DANISH trial
Regenerative medicine has much to offer the cardiovascular field, although there is still a way to go before it is ready for routine clinical application, according to Andre Terzic, MD, PhD, director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine and a professor in Cardiovascular Diseases Research at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding Canadian component of a study to determine the optimal amount of blood to transfuse in anemic patients who have suffered a myocardial infarction.
For the first time, researchers have developed tests that could improve treatment for heart failure patients by diagnosing the condition with greater accuracy, as well as by detecting the onset of congestive heart failure earlier. The findings were published in the Cardiovascular Disease issue of Clinical Chemistry, the journal of AACC.
Research published today in AACC’s Clinical Chemistry journal shows that a test can identify patients with a history of cardiovascular disease who are at high risk of another heart attack or death and would benefit from treatment with the drug vorapaxar. This study and two others on tests that predict risk of adverse cardiovascular events are featured in the Cardiovascular Disease issue of Clinical Chemistry.
Laboratory medicine experts are using a growing understanding of the molecular signatures of heart disease to develop more precise tests for the early diagnosis, monitoring, and targeted treatment of this condition. A special issue of Clinical Chemistry, the journal of AACC, titled “Cardiovascular Disease: Impact of Biomarkers, Proteomics, and Genomics,” highlights the groundbreaking medical tests that could advance patient care for this chronic disease and its consequences, which range from cardiac arrest to congestive heart failure.
Participants in Joslin's Why WAIT (Weight Achievement and Intensive Management) program lost substantial amounts of weight, and even those who maintained relatively little loss of weight after five years demonstrated reduced risks of cardiovascular disease.
People with any form of diabetes are at greater risk of developing cardiovascular conditions than people without the disease. Moreover, if they undergo an operation to open up a clogged artery by inserting a “stent” surgical tube, the artery is much more likely to clog up again. However, researchers at Joslin Diabetes Centers now have uncovered an explanation for why these procedures often fail, which may lead toward better alternatives.
Anticoagulant therapy is important for stroke prevention in people with atrial fibrillation, but a new study shows many people don’t stick with it.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) instituted financial penalties against hospitals with high rates of readmissions for Medicare patients with certain health conditions. A new analysis led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Massachusetts General Hospital has found that the penalties levied under the law’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program were associated with reduced readmissions rates and that the poorest performing hospitals achieved the greatest reductions.
Researchers have developed a synthetic version of a cardiac stem cell. These synthetic stem cells offer therapeutic benefits comparable to those from natural stem cells and could reduce some of the risks associated with stem cell therapies.
After all the lifting, hauling and wrapping, worn out gift givers may blame the season’s physical strain for any shoulder soreness they are feeling. It turns out there could be another reason. A new study led by investigators at the University of Utah School of Medicine finds that individuals with symptoms that put them at increased risk for heart disease could be more likely to have shoulder problems, including joint pain and rotator cuff injury.
When people with chronic health problems couldn't get around town to their doctors' appointments, a four-year Johns Hopkins program brought the appointments to them. Johns Hopkins cardiologist and senior director for accountable care Scott Berkowitz, M.D., has published an extensive report of a four-year, $19 million Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services grant in the journal Healthcare.
A consortium directed by UCLA’s Dr. Kalyanam Shivkumar has received a three-year, $8.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to map the heart’s nervous system. The group’s goal: To conduct research that leads to new ways to treat cardiovascular disease by targeting nerves in the heart’s nervous system.
Using human embryonic stem cells to create a type of cardiac cells known as sinotrial (SA) node pacemaker cells, researchers have developed a biological pacemaker that overcomes many of the limitations of electrical pacemakers.
UAB is the only hospital in Alabama to perform 500 TAVR cases.
Transplant surgeons recently performed UT Southwestern Medical Center’s first heart/liver transplant – saving the life of a singer/musician from a small Texas town.
Current methods to predict the risk of heart attack and stroke vastly underestimate the risk in individuals with HIV, which is nearly double that of the general population, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. “The actual risk of heart attack for people with HIV was roughly 50 percent higher than predicted by the risk calculator many physicians use for the general population,” said first author Dr.
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) and the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute (ISCI) at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have begun testing to see whether adult stem cells derived from bone marrow benefit children with the congenital heart defect hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).
Philanthropists Garry S. Sklar, MD, and his wife, Sarah Sklar, were recently honored by SUNY Downstate in recognition of gifts that support clinical care and research efforts in Anesthesiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, as well as healthcare education through simulation technology.
For critically ill patients with heart or lung failure that does not respond to conventional treatments, extracorporeal life support (ECLS) can provide a bridge to survival. Updated analysis of a worldwide database finds that ECLS technologies are becoming more widely available and more frequently used at centers around the world, according to a report in the ASAIO Journal, published by Wolters Kluwer.
Announcement of a new clinical trial designed to measure the impact of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in low surgical risk patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS).
Using cardiac imaging during heart surgery can detect serious residual holes in the heart that may occur when surgeons repair a child’s heart defect, and offers surgeons the opportunity to close those holes during the same operation. Pediatric cardiology experts say using this tool, called transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), during surgery may improve outcomes for children with congenital heart disease.
Imagine conquering childhood cancer, only to find out that years down the road your heart may fail. Unfortunately, many children who have battled cancer face this reality. While often lifesaving, the effects of chemotherapy treatment (drugs that kill cancer cells) can take a toll on the developing body of a child, potentially resulting in life-threatening late side effects like cardiac damage.
Health and wellness tips about preventing blood shortages, cardiorespiratory fitness check-up, and avoid holiday heart syndrome.
A research team led by Robert Gerszten, MD, Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and a Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute, has received an award of more than $11 million as part of the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity in Humans (MoTrPAC) consortium, a large-scale initiative of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate and map the molecular changes that occur in our bodies during and after exercise. This national research consortium seeks to advance our understanding of how physical activity improves and preserves health.
Scientists have enlisted the exotic properties of graphene to function like the film of an incredibly sensitive camera system in visually mapping tiny electric fields. They hope to enlist the new method to image electrical signaling networks in our hearts and brains.
Protecting the body against oxidative stress
Scientists from the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University Health Network, have developed the first functional pacemaker cells from human stem cells, paving the way for alternate, biological pacemaker therapy.
New research from BYU exercise science professors finds that pro-inflammatory molecules actually go down in the knee joint after running.
A new minimally invasive technique for repairing the most common cardiac birth defect in extremely premature newborns can be performed safely with a high success rate in babies as small as 755 grams – about 1.6 pounds – only a few days after birth.
Women often neglect their own heart health during the holidays and can suffer serious health problems.
A genetic discovery by a team led by Dianna Milewicz, M.D., Ph.D., of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) could help explain a cause of a mysterious artery-damaging disease that may affect up to an estimated 5 million Americans and often strikes without warning.
Two new studies out of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine describe how the inflammatory response to psoriasis can alter levels of several immune system molecules, ultimately increasing a person’s risk of thrombosis, which can include fatal blood clots
Researchers from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and the Cedars-Sinai Department of Medicine are expanding their ongoing evaluation of a novel cell-based therapeutic candidate into the area of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This work will be supported by a recently-awarded $7.3 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Case Western Reserve University researchers have developed a portable sensor that can assess the clotting ability of a person’s blood 95 times faster than current methods—using only a single drop of blood.
Credentialed press representatives are invited to attend The Society of Thoracic Surgeons 53rd Annual Meeting and Exhibition.
A ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm is the 15th leading cause of death in the country, and the 10th leading cause of death in men older than 55.
Hospitals in which the administration of epinephrine to patients whose hearts have stopped is delayed beyond five minutes have significantly lower survival rates of those patients, a new study led by a cardiologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center finds.
The RECHORD trial allows cardiovascular surgeons to replace damaged string-like tendons, called chordae, through a small incision while the heart is beating. PinnacleHealth is one of only 20 sites in the nation and the only hospital in Pennsylvania selected to participate in the trial. Up to 450 patients will be enrolled into the randomized trial.
Smoking may lead to fibrosis in the heart and kidneys and can worsen existing kidney disease, according to a new study. The research team suggests that exposure to cigarette smoke negatively affects genetic messaging that controls tissue scarring.
One in 10 patients who come to the hospital with the most severe type of heart attack have a history of cancer, showing that this is an emerging subgroup of heart patients, according to Mayo Clinic research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. In addition, the study found that these patients have a three times higher risk of noncardiac death. Meanwhile, their risk of cardiac death is not higher ― both at the time of their acute heart attack and over long-term follow-up.
Researchers with UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine are launching clinical trials to find out whether heart muscle that’s been damaged by a heart attack be prompted to repair itself.
On November 4, 2016, surgeons at UC San Diego Health performed the region’s first combined heart-liver transplant (CHLT). During the 10-hour surgery, 54-year old Frank “Sonny” Taitano received a healthy heart and liver. This is the first successful heart-liver transplant for San Diego; less than 10 of these surgeries are performed each year in the U.S.
Whether patients with mechanical heart valves or left ventricular assist devices must take blood thinners depends on how effectively blood flows through these implantable devices. Researchers have modeled the flow of blood through these devices to estimate clotting risk, but this type of work has not been done on stent grafts—until now. The results showed that shear accumulation in a new endovascular stent graft design was comparable to that of an idealized aorta.
— Myocarditis, an assortment of heart disorders often caused by infection and inflammation, is known to be difficult to diagnose and treat. But the picture of who is affected is becoming a little clearer. Men may be as much as twice as likely as women to develop severe and possibly fatal reactions. And the risk of sudden cardiovascular death in the young is relatively high.
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