Feature Channels: Cardiovascular Health

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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UAB is the only hospital in Alabama to perform 500 TAVR cases.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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Health and wellness tips about preventing blood shortages, cardiorespiratory fitness check-up, and avoid holiday heart syndrome.

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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.

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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.

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Protecting the body against oxidative stress

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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.

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New research from BYU exercise science professors finds that pro-inflammatory molecules actually go down in the knee joint after running.

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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.