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.
The NIH awarded a $2.27 million Phase II STTR grant to Nocturnal Product Development, LLC, and George Washington University researcher Narine Sarvazyan, Ph.D.
Touchdowns scored during CFL post-season and Grey Cup raise money to support advanced heart failure patients
Older baby boomers—those born between 1945 and 1954—are the “stroke-healthiest generation,” according to a Rutgers study that found the lowest incidence of ischemic stroke in this age group within the past 20 years. In contrast, the rate of stroke more than doubled in Generation X, people born between 1965 and 1974, during the same time period.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Bernice Morrow, Ph.D., at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and collaborators at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) a five-year, $7.5 million grant to study the genetics of congenital heart abnormalities.
The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre has reached a major milestone within its Mechanical Circulatory Support Program - the largest mechanical heart program in Canada - implanting a 200th patient with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD).
Hypertension and prehypertension in children often go undiagnosed, according to a new study published today in Pediatrics. The study focused on children with abnormal blood pressures across the United States, and is the first to show a widespread underdiagnosis of these conditions by pediatricians in children ages 3 to 18.
Computer algorithms can automatically interpret echocardiographic images and distinguish between pathological hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and physiological changes in athletes’ hearts, according to research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), published online yesterday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Heart disease, the leading cause of death in America, can be combatted by implementing a simple walking regimen. Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York found that moderately intensive walking improves cardiovascular risk factors in the short term.
A suite of sensors can predict heart failure events by detecting when a patient’s condition is worsening, according to Dr. John Boehmer, professor of medicine, Penn State College of Medicine.
Around 1 per cent of the population carry a gene which could mean they have hearts ‘primed to fail’.
Dr. Eric Olson, Director of the Hamon Center and Chairman of Molecular Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, was recognized nationally and locally for his academic mentoring prowess, along with his pioneering research into tissue regeneration and gene editing.
• New research estimates the projected lives that would be saved if patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease underwent intensive blood pressure lowering. • The findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital, and Jeffrey W. Olin, DO, FAHA, Professor of Cardiology and Director of the Vascular Medicine and Vascular Diagnostics Laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, received awards at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions, November 12-16, 2016.
Cooper will join Joseph Tector as co-director of UAB’s Xenotransplantation Program with their research geared toward using genetically modified pigs to facilitate kidney transplants in humans.
• In patients with chronic kidney disease, dietary sodium restriction reduced albuminuria (an indicator of kidney dysfunction) and blood pressure, whereas paricalcitol (a vitamin D receptor activator) in itself had no significant effect on these measures. • The combination of paricalcitol and a low sodium diet resulted in the lowest albuminuria levels in patients.
In mouse experiments, researchers have shown how aging and excess dietary fat create signals that lead to heart failure after a heart attack. Clarifying the mechanism of this harmful pathway is important because nearly 5 million people in the United States suffer heart failure as an age-related disease following heart attacks.
As conventional fee-for-service models become less viable, cardiologists will need to participate in emerging payment models, according to a review published by GW researcher Steven Farmer, M.D., Ph.D., in the Journal of the American Medical Association Cardiology.
A newer generation left ventricular assist device (LVAD) provides better outcomes for patients with advanced heart failure at six months compared to its predecessor, according to a new study. Researchers presented data from the MOMENTUM 3 trial at the 2016 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association and also co-published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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