Feature Channels: Cardiovascular Health

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A passion for LEGO toys is now a fun way to raise money for heart research at The Ohio State University Heart and Vascular Center.

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Internationally renowned cardiologist, Elazer Edelman, MD, PhD, will be presented with the TCT Career Achievement Award on Monday, October 30th during the 29th Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference in Denver, Colorado. TCT is the annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF). TCT Directors, Martin B. Leon, MD, and Gregg W. Stone, MD, will present the award.

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African American women were found to be twice as likely to be diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy as compared to women of Caucasian, Hispanic/Latina, Asian, and other ethnic backgrounds, according to a new study—the largest of its kind—published today in JAMA Cardiology by researchers from the Perelman school of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Johns Hopkins researchers report that the level, or “copy number,” of mitochondrial DNA—genetic information stored not in a cell’s nucleus but in the body’s energy-creating mitochondria—is a novel and distinct biomarker that is able to predict the risk of heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths a decade or more before they happen. In the future, testing blood for this genetic information could not only help physicians more accurately predict a risk for life-threatening cardiac events, but also inform decisions to begin—or avoid—treatment with statins and other drugs.

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Researchers have known for decades that fevers in the first trimester of pregnancy increase risk for some heart defects and facial deformities such as cleft lip or palate. Exactly how this happens is unclear. Duke researchers now have evidence indicating that the fever itself, not its root source, is what interferes with the development of the heart and jaw during the first three to eight weeks of pregnancy.

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Using fruit flies, Johns Hopkins researchers have figured out why a particular inherited human heart condition that is almost always due to genetic mutations causes the heart to enlarge, thicken and fail. They found that one such mutation interferes with heart muscle’s ability to relax after contracting, and prevents the heart from fully filling with blood and pumping it out.

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While some studies have supported the idea that the walls of the aorta are piezoelectric or ferroelectric, the most recent research finds no evidence of these properties. Researchers investigated by testing samples of pig aorta using a traditional setup, known as Sawyer-Tower, to detect ferroelectricity. Their experiments suggest the aorta has no special properties, and instead acts as a standard dielectric material that does not conduct current. They report their work in Applied Physics Letters.

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New discoveries about the mechanism responsible for heat generation in the body related to fat tissue oppose classical views in the field and could lead to new ways to fight metabolic disorders associated with obesity, according to a study led by Georgia State University.

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Being able to test new drugs in a 3-D model of the body has the potential to speed up drug discovery and also to reduce the use of testing in animals.

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Researchers from the University of Toledo (Ohio) College of Medicine and Life Sciences have discovered more than 12,000 different types of noncoding RNA (circRNAs) in the kidney tissue of rats. This type of genetic material, previously thought to have no function, may play a significant role in regulating blood pressure in heart and kidney disease.

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No disorder appears to kill more people than atherosclerosis, and hopeful experimental treatments with "good cholesterols" have failed. New research reapproaches them with carefully designed cholesterols in an organ-on-a-chip in highly reproducible experiments.

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Researchers have shown, for the first time, that reduced dietary potassium promotes elevated aortic stiffness in a mouse model. Such arterial stiffness in humans is predictive of heart disease and death from heart disease, and it represents an important health problem for the nation.

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A new, inexpensive urine test accurately identifies patients at risk for kidney damage after open heart surgery, allowing for corrective action before permanent injury occurs.

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The University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Chicago Medicine, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital are part of a newly-formed national network that will collaborate to conduct clinical trials designed to improve the outcomes for patients with neurologic, cardiac, respiratory, hematologic and trauma-related emergency events.

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A new review of more than 500 studies examines the environmental and physiological causes of physical inactivity and the role it plays in the development of chronic disease. The article is published in Physiological Reviews.

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Alain Tanbe, M.D., a fellowship-trained vascular surgeon at The Vascular Center at Mercy Medical Center, recently utilized the FDA-approved LUTONIX® 035 Drug Coated Balloon (DCB) Catheter 035 to treat arteriovenous (AV) fistula, Paul R. Lucas, M.D., Director of Mercy’s Vascular Center, announced.

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Individualized medicine — the concept of matching medical care precisely to each patient’s genes, lifestyle and environment is no longer just a theory. Experts in individualized medicine — also known as personalized or precision medicine — will be in Rochester Oct. 9-10, presenting the latest ways to apply precision medicine to all patients. They are available for interviews on groundbreaking discoveries at Individualizing Medicine 2017: Advancing Care Through Genomics, which will be held at Mayo Civic Center.

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A review of the weight gain risks and challenges faced by women in midlife has led Mayo Clinic researchers to a series of recommendations for this patient population. The findings are published in this month's edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

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Advances in trauma care, medical technology and management of severe illnesses have led to the relatively quick adoption of the open abdomen technique for patients with many life-threatening medical and surgical diagnoses.