Feature Channels: Cardiovascular Health

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Cardiac surgeons are successfully performing more extensive surgical repairs of type A aortic dissection—one of the highest risk operations in cardiothoracic surgery. These new surgical techniques, along with improved postoperative care, are resulting in better long-term outcomes and lower rates of complications, according to an article published online today in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

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Medical emergencies cause a high number of vehicle crashes. University of Michigan researchers have teamed up with Toyota to examine whether new vehicle technology could predict — and potentially prevent — such scenarios.

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A groundbreaking study published today in AACC’s Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine shows that a new test could improve diagnosis and treatment of heart disease by measuring how effectively a patient’s high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) cleans up arterial cholesterol.

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Almost 1 in 6 of the millions of Americans on the new blood-thinning medications for atrial fibrillation, a common heart condition characterized by an irregular and often rapid heart rate, may not be receiving the recommended dose, new Mayo Clinic research finds.

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Author says empowering patients with individualized information, and involving them in shared decision-making, is how one makes the best decisions in cases of significant LMD.

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One additional injection of insulin three hours after eating has been shown to protect people with type 1 diabetes from cardiovascular disease – the leading cause of death among people with the condition

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Dr. Ralf Holzer, a pediatric cardiologist and expert in minimally invasive techniques to treat children and adults with congenital heart disease, has been named chief of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medicine, and director of Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization at The Komansky Children’s Hospital, effective June 1.

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In an effort to reduce the number of people who die needlessly from sudden cardiac arrest each year, NewYork-Presbyterian and the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute have launched the #HandsOnlyCPR campaign, an ambitious community awareness, education and activation effort with a simple, but powerful message: Everyone Can Save a Life.

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The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) will hold a free seminar “Broken Hearts: Living with Heart Failure” on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 for heart failure patients and caregivers at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. The seminar, part of a series of Mini-Med School seminars conducted by the CRF Women’s Heart Health Initiative, will focus on providing both patients and caregivers a deeper understanding of heart failure, its symptoms, and treatment options.

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Getting outside on two wheels can improve health and fitness, build muscles and boost your mood. Plus, for most people, it’s fun.

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Leaders open facility making innovative treatments available to New York families

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A technique to treat an irregular heartbeat that limits or eliminates patients’ exposure to radiation should be more widely adopted by physicians, NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine cardiologists argue in a new review article in Heart Rhythm, published in the June print issue and previously published online.

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Patients who undergo the Fontan operation as children for a complex congenital heart defect are at risk of developing progressive liver fibrosis, a buildup of fibrous deposits, as a result of the circulation created by the surgery. A research team says their findings underscore the importance of improving ongoing medical surveillance, so that physicians can develop the most appropriate care for their patients.

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A new study conducted by researchers from Tulane University finds reducing target systolic blood pressure below current recommendations significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and preventable death.

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For more than two months, Kim O’Neill, 61, spent nearly every night lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering if she was going to die in her sleep. Her heart was beating so loudly in her chest she thought it might explode. During the day, she would struggle to walk up a flight of stairs to the second floor of her home and would run out of breath in the middle of a conversation with her husband. A typically active and positive person, O’Neill was terrified that this was her new normal. Everything changed in December 2016 when she met Ramesh Hariharan, M.D., a cardiac electrophysiologist with McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital.

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It may be possible to disrupt harmful blood clots in people at risk for heart attack or stroke without increasing their risk of bleeding, according to a new study published in Nature Communications.

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Temple University Hospital has earned the Mission: Lifeline® Silver Receiving Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association for the treatment of patients who suffer severe heart attacks.

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Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute scientist works to develop new treatments for wound healing and cancer.

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Stroke patients who used their minds to open and close a plastic brace fitted over their paralyzed hand gained some control over that hand, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The participants showed significant improvement in grasping objects.

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Researchers in Japan have identified a receptor protein on the surface of heart cells that promotes chronic heart failure. The study, “Corticotropin releasing hormone receptor 2 exacerbates chronic cardiac dysfunction,” which will be published May 26 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggests that inhibiting this protein could help treat a disease that affects more than 20 million people worldwide.

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The reduced-size Amplatzer duct occluder II (ADO II), a heart device developed to repair one of the most common congenital heart defects, is safe to use in very small children. That’s according to new research published in the May 2017 issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Intervention.

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Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) today announced six boxes of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) to study the impact of weightlessness on the heart. The fruit flies are scheduled to launch on June 1, 2017, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and will travel to the ISS via a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

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Thousands of critical care and pulmonology specialists from across the world gathered this week for the American Thoracic Society International Conference in Washington, D.C., to share research, medical developments and best practices for patient care. Here, we highlight a few standouts.

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New Michigan State University research is the first to help a professional race car driver with diabetes improve his performance during competition, helping him capture two top-5 finishes at the Indianapolis 500.

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Dr. Ming-Hui Zou, director of the Center for Molecular & Translational Medicine and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Medicine, has renewed a four-year, $2.3 million federal grant to study the role of an enzyme in causing diabetic vascular diseases and the molecular mechanism that leads to these diseases.

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Michigan Medicine researchers report a key protein is affected during heart valve formation, in the first genomewide study of bicuspid aortic valve.

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A new strategy – an injectable antibody – for lowering blood lipids and thereby potentially preventing coronary artery disease and other conditions caused by the build-up of fats, cholesterol, and other substances on the artery walls, is supported by findings from two new studies from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Two stressful work characteristics, low job control and “job strain” – that is, high-demand, low-control work – have been increasing in the U.S. since 2002. The findings may explain why declines in cardiovascular disease and related mortality have slowed. Researchers also found an increase in "work-family conflict."

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Garret FitzGerald, MD, FRS, director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has received a $1 million Merit Award from the American Heart Association (AHA) to help the millions of patients with high blood pressure improve their condition.

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Chocolate consumption, particularly of dark chocolate, has been linked to improvements in various indicators of heart health. This study examined the possible association between chocolate intake and a lower rate of being diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. While this is an observational study, researchers believe these findings warrant further consideration to identify effective prevention strategies for atrial fibrillation.

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Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is proud to announce that Joseph Rossano, M.D., has been named Chief of the Division of Cardiology, effective this week.

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In the first study examining dental records in the Rochester Epidemiology Project, results show that dentists and oral surgeons are in good compliance with guidelines issued by the American Heart Association (AHA) in 2007, describing prophylactic antibiotic use prior to invasive dental procedures.

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A new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has shown that aggressive lowering of blood pressure in people with hypertension reduced the risk of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). This condition, the enlargement and thickening of the walls of the heart’s main pumping chamber, is the most common complication of high blood pressure and greatly increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may increase the risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF), according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference.

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The average American consumes nearly 2,000 mg a day over most adults’ ideal amount of sodium intake, excluding salt added at the table. Sodium found in restaurant, pre-packaged and processed foods, and foods like canned vegetables can increase heart disease and stroke risk, among others.

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Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Despite dozens of regions in the genome associated with CAD, most of the genetic components of heart diseases are not fully understood, suggesting that more genes are out there to be found. A team found 15 new risk genes for coronary artery disease.

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A study from NYU Langone Medical Center researchers published in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that initiating statins in heart-healthy older adults may not extend lifespan.

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After an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, people with a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or people at risk for CVD appear more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke, according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference.

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Otherwise healthy young people with high systolic blood pressure over 140 are at greater risk for future artery stiffening linked to an increased risk of stroke as well as possible damage to the kidneys and brain, new research shows.

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Verghese Mathew, MD, FACC, FSCAI, a nationally known interventional cardiologist, has been named director of Loyola Medicine’s division of cardiology, effective July 1, 2017.

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Results from the DAWN stroke trial provide compelling evidence that selected patients suffering a major ischemic stroke recovered significantly better with mechanical retrieval of the blood clot with medical therapy compared with medical therapy alone when initiated past the current guidelines of within 6 hours and up to 24 hours of the stroke.

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The likelihood of a family member or friend stepping in to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a person suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) at home decreases with the victim’s age, suggests a new study from Penn Medicine that also found low CPR training rates among older Americans. The results were published this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

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The Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) is proud to announce the Houston CNS Acute Stroke Care Symposium on June 24.

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The Valley Heart and Vascular Institute has been selected as 1 of just 10 hospitals – and the only hospital in New Jersey – to participate in a nationwide study investigating a minimally invasive aortic valve replacement procedure for individuals with aortic stenosis.

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Hundreds of thousands of children with chronic illnesses who used to die are now surviving their disease and treatment—which is amazing. But their brains are being damaged in the process of keeping them alive. This first ever research quantifies the IQ impact of six main illnesses and looks and the common threads that connect them. It also takes next steps on how psychologists can team up with surgeons/oncologists, etc. to help treat kids and their parents, so they can thrive in school and life.

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A new study by researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City found that using long-term aspirin therapy to prevent strokes among patients who are considered to be at low risk for stroke may not be effective as previously thought.

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Francis Marchlinski, MD, FHRS, director of Electrophysiology for the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS), has been selected to receive the Distinguished Teacher Award from the Heart Rhythm Society, the leading international professional organization for cardiac arrhythmia professionals.

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A new study has found that dementia rates increase when anticoagulation treatment is delayed for patients with atrial fibrillation, the most common heart arrhythmia in the world that affects more than 2.7 million American adults.

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In a new study presented today at the Heart Rhythm Society’s 38th Annual Scientific Session in Chicago, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that CHD patients—even with complex defects—can safely undergo ablation for AF, with similar success rates as patients with normal hearts.