Feature Channels: Cardiovascular Health

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Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a new way to predict which heart failure patients are likely to see their condition get worse and which ones have a better prognosis. Their study is one of the first to show that energy metabolism within the heart, measured using a noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test, is a significant predictor of clinical outcomes, independent of a patient’s symptoms or the strength of the heart’s ability to pump blood, known as the ejection fraction.

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Physicians have long recognized a “holiday bump” in the number of heart attacks at this time of year.

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For patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) who are not experiencing a heart attack and an abnormal stress test, treatment of their narrowed arteries by the common procedure of angioplasty may not provide additional benefits compared to drug therapy alone. This finding results from a survey of more than 4,000 patients with myocardial ischemia, or inadequate circulation, led by cardiologists at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. The survey results are published in the online first edition of JAMA Internal Medicine.

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• Among a group of veterans discharged from the hospital after acute kidney injury or heart attacks, death occurred most often in patients who experienced both conditions and least often in patients experiencing heart attacks alone. • Patients with acute kidney injury later experienced more major heart and kidney problems than those who had heart attacks.

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A national group of leading scientists, including one University of Alabama at Birmingham expert, says fewer people are dying of stroke, but the mechanisms remain unknown.

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Damage to heart muscle caused by a heart attack turns on immune cells in the spleen that accelerate heart failure.

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For many households of Mexican descent in the United States, the days following Thanksgiving aren’t only about wrapping gifts but also about wrapping tamales.

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Leading cardiologists at The Mount Sinai Hospital have contributed to the development of a new classification system called MOGE(S) for cardiomyopathies, the diseases of the heart muscle which can lead to heart enlargement and heart failure.

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A byproduct of cholesterol functions like the hormone estrogen to fuel the growth and spread of the most common types of breast cancers, researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute report.

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Johns Hopkins heart researchers are unraveling the mystery of how a modified pacemaker used to treat many patients with heart failure, known as cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), is able to strengthen the heart muscle while making it beat in a coordinated fashion. In a new study conducted on animal heart cells described in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the scientists show that CRT changes these cells so they can contract more forcefully. The researchers also identified an enzyme that mimics this effect of CRT without use of the device.

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Results of a Johns Hopkins-led study have identified a possible link between a history of sudden drops in blood pressure and the most common form of irregular heartbeat.

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Older men whose testosterone levels were neither low nor high tended to live longer, according to new research accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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Dallas, TX – Researchers from the Sinai Center for Thrombosis Research presented findings from a Phase 2a trial substudy that examined the antiplatelet effects of CSL112, a novel apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I) infusion therapy, at the American Heart Association 2013 Scientific Sessions.

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An ultrafast, 320-detector computed tomography (CT) scanner that shows both anatomy within coronary arteries and blood flowcan accurately sort out which people need – or don’t need – an invasive procedure to identify coronary blockages, according to an international study. The researchers say their findings could potentially save millions of people worldwide from having an unnecessary cardiac catheterization.

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Researchers from the Cardiovascular Research Center at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reported the long-term benefits of a single dose of their gene therapy AAV1/SERCA2a in advanced heart failure patients on Nov. 19 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2013.

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For years, doctors have been divided on how effective annual testing and screenings are for apparently healthy individuals. New research, however, shows that a simple blood test may predict who is at highest risk to develop heart problems – and how long these people may have to live.

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Isoforms of PDE3A enzyme might make targets for drugs that prevent SDC while still helping the heart pump blood

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A targeted effort to help high-risk heart failure patients stay on their medications did improve adherence to drug regimens, but had surprisingly little effect lowering hospital readmission rates, according to a study at Duke Medicine.

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Researchers report for the first time evidence on whether or not there is any significant difference between the two current surgical approaches to treat patients with severe ischemic mitral regurgitation -- mitral valve repair and mitral valve replacement.

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Two drugs tested in a larger trial did not improve kidney function in acute heart failure patients, contrary to results of smaller studies. The results were presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2013 in Dallas and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Previous smaller studies showed that low-dose dopamine or low-dose nesiritide could improve kidney function and reduce fluid overload that is often present in hospitalized acute heart failure patients by increasing urine production.

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Researchers show end-stage heart failure patients who receive a surgically implanted left ventricular assist device (LVAD) heart pump may also benefit from a single dose of millions of powerful cells injected directly into their heart during surgery.

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Researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute have discovered a link between elevated red cell distribution width levels and depression in patients being treated for heart disease. This new discovery can help physicians provide earlier diagnosis and treatment for possible depression in heart patients.

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Data from a national registry developed to track patient safety and real-world outcomes finds that the initial use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for treatment of aortic stenosis in high surgical risk and inoperable patients in the United States is safe and effective.

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Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a more accurate way to calculate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the so-called “bad” form of blood fat that can lead to hardening of the arteries and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. If confirmed and adopted by medical laboratories that routinely calculate blood cholesterol for patients, the researchers say their formula would give patients and their doctors a much more accurate assessment of LDL cholesterol.

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Researchers from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, in collaboration with researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the National Institutes of Health, have discovered a simple way to further predict a diabetic patient’s risk for heart disease: by measuring their body mass index or BMI.

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A new study highlights the importance of exercise and physical fitness among people with stable coronary artery disease. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Henry Ford Hospital found that higher levels of physical fitness lower the risk of having heart attacks and increase survival in those with coronary artery disease, whether or not they have had a procedure to open up their blocked arteries.

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Despite nearly universal awareness of report cards on risk-adjusted mortality rates of individual cardiac surgeons, cardiologists in New York State do not use these reports when making patient referral decisions.

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The reality of existing insurance coverage precludes effective implementation of four newly released cardiovascular guidelines from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The Academy supports the new guidelines and urges public and private insurance carriers to follow the recommendations so that Americans will have access to health care they deserve.

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New cholesterol guidelines for identifying adults at risk for heart disease represent the biggest change in such expert advice in more than 25 years, and could dramatically affect how patients are treated.

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Researchers at the Cardiovascular Research Center at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have successfully tested a powerful gene therapy, delivered directly into the heart, to reverse heart failure in large animal models.

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UCLA researchers report that tiny amounts of a specific type of lipid in the small intestine may play a greater role than previously thought in generating the high cholesterol levels and inflammation that lead to clogged arteries. The team also found they could reduce the negative effects of these lipids in mice by feeding the animals a new genetically engineered tomato being developed at UCLA that is designed to mimic HDL (“good”) cholesterol. The study, in the December issue of the Journal of Lipid Research with an accompanying editorial, focused on a group of lipids found in the small intestine called unsaturated lysophosphatidic acids (LPAs).

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A minimally invasive procedure is the first effective treatment for patients who are high risk for standard open heart surgery for a leaking heart valve, a study led by a University of Virginia School of Medicine researcher has found.

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New research from the Cleveland Clinic shows most patients with diabetes and obesity who undergo gastric bypass not only experience remission of their diabetes and lose significant weight, but they also reduce their risk of having a heart attack by 40 percent and their risk for suffering a stroke by 42 percent, over a 10-year time horizon.

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Experts from Houston Methodist Hospital address the recent FDA proposal to eliminate trans fat from the food supply.

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Men taking testosterone therapy had a 29 percent greater risk of death, heart attack and stroke according to a study of a "real world" population of men. An accompanying editorial in JAMA by an endocrinologist with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania notes that the mounting evidence of a signal of cardiovascular risk warrants cautious testosterone prescribing and additional investigation.

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Doctors have known for years that atrial fibrillation (AF), or irregular heartbeat, increases the risk for stroke, but now researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have shown that it also increases the risk for heart attack. In fact, for women and African Americans, it more than doubles the risk.

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Current medical guidelines use a one-size-fits-all treatment approach that leads to some patients being on too many medications and others being on too little.

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A multi-center team led by James Langabeer II, Ph.D., of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) has published a first-of-its-kind study in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) that examines unequal growth in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) centers relative to population and heart attack prevalence across the United States.

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Although an irregular heartbeat is a common malady in the United States, affecting an estimated 5 million people, the treatments for it are limited in scope and effectiveness. Now, Igor Efimov, PhD, at Washington University in St. Louis, is studying a new potential treatment that may be much more effective and less painful for patients.

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Rheumatoid arthritis patients who use tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (called Anti-TNFs) to control their disease-related inflammation also have a decreased risk for heart attacks, according to research findings presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Diego.

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center has joined a national network funded by the National Institutes of Health to streamline multi-site clinical trials focused on key interventions in stroke prevention, treatment and recovery. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Stroke Trials Network will include up to 25 academic medical centers and aims to increase efficiency and resource sharing within cerebrovascular clinical research.

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New research has shown that chest compressions only can be an effective method of delivering CPR to people in need. Find out how one man was able to save his father after to a heart attack. To learn more, visit www.VanderbiltHeart.com

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There is an association between the influenza virus and cardiovascular events like heart disease and stroke; those with cardiovascular disease should protect themselves against the flu.

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The flu vaccine may not only ward off serious complications from influenza, it may also reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke by more than 50 per cent among those who have had a heart attack, according to new research led by Dr. Jacob Udell, a cardiologist at Women’s College Hospital and clinician-scientist at the University of Toronto.

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The survival rate for individuals who experience a sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital is a mere five percent. Time is crucial. Chances of survival drop by 10 percent for every minute that passes without someone performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or using an automated external defibrillator (AED).

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The incidence of chronic pain following cardiac surgery can be reduced in patients when the drug pregabalin is used before surgery and for 14 days post-surgery, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. The study also found that patients at risk of developing long-term post-operative persistent pain can be predicted by conducting pain sensitivity tests at the time of surgery.

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Long-term memory loss, difficulty understanding verbal or written communication or impaired ability to pay attention may still occur five years after heart surgery if a patient has a certain gene variation, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. This gene was found to be related to a decline in cognitive capabilities compared to those who do not have the variation.