Cardiology

Researchers from a number of leading academic facilities across the United States have published a study that details post-surgical MACE prevalence and risk factors in patients with Williams syndrome.

Results from a recent study may help physicians decide when to use pulmonary vein isolation on patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and when to try an alternative treatment.

Analysis of a large patient cohort indicates that "isolated" events of atrial fibrillation precipitated by temporary secondary conditions tend to become chronic long-term cases of atrial fibrillation.

FDA approval of the left atrial appendage closure device after a long review process provides a potentially useful alternative to warfarin.

One of the advantages of using electronic health records is the amount of information they place at doctors' fingertips, enabling them (in theory) to provide the highest level of care for their patients.

Lack of sleep and chronic kidney disease (CKD) independently lead to hypertension, diabetes mellitus, lower quality of life, and shorter life expectancy. Severity of CKD and sleep disturbances may also worsen diabetes and hypertension synergistically.

While TORe has been a significant development in the treatment of overweight and obese patients who have undergone gastric bypass surgery there are more procedures on the horizon that could provide even greater benefits in the future.

Even more so than gastric bypass surgery, the work of the patient determines how effective TORe can be in helping them keep from re-gaining excess weight. With diet, exercise, and working with their healthcare professionals the results can be positive for everyone involved.

While gastric bypass has provided benefits for millions of patients it has not been without its share of complications and difficulties after the procedure. Over the past few years work has been done to find ways to help patients after undergoing the original operation.

Across the country millions of people have undergone gastric bypass surgery in an effort to lose weight and improve their overall health. For those patients who have seen their results diminish a relatively new procedure could get them back on the road to a healthy lifestyle.

As one of the largest school districts in the country, the Los Angeles Unified School District serves more than 600,000 students on a daily basis. With so many children come a wide variety of health issues and individual health insurance complications that also must be addressed.

Viewers have plenty of choices when it comes to medical talk shows on television. With all their recommendations a recent study looked at whether they are doing more harm than good to the potential patient pool.

People whose short stature is due to genetics have a higher risk of developing coronary artery disease (CAD) a UK team has determined.

Adding to the seemingly endless list of health problems, researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that cigarette smoke is to blame for making a deadly bacteria even worse.

A 28-year old man comes in who recently arrived in southern California from South America and suddenly developed a "cold." His symptoms included productive cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, fever, weakness and malaise. He also reported unexplained weight loss. Sputum and blood specimens were obtained for acid-fast smear examination and culture. A single posterior-anterior chest radiograph was obtained as part of his initial evaluation.

A 75-year-old woman with a history of coronary artery disease, hypertension and hyperlipidemia presents with shortness of breath with exertion.

Dietary sodium restriction is frequently recommended as a means to manage hypertension, congestive heart failure and cardiovascular disease. However, with the growing focus on patient-centered outcomes rather than disease-centered outcomes, the importance of sodium restriction becomes less clear.

Although the obesity epidemic in the United States seems to have reached a plateau over the past few years, the prevalence of obesity continues to be high with 30% of Americans classified as obese, defined as having a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more, and an additional 30% overweight, with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2.

The increased insulin resistance seen in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients compared to non-RA controls did not contribute to additional atherosclerosis risk, according to research published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Pollution can be a major problem no matter where patients live, and reversing its effects can be a difficult process. However, with the right approach small steps can be taken that can eventually make a big difference.

Along with the issues pollution poses for asthma and allergy patients, developing research shows it can also affect cardiovascular health as well.

In states that expanded the number of low-income people eligible for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the number of people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes increased by 23 percent.

Obesity Week 2014 was the second annual combined meeting of The Obesity Society (TOS) and the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).

In this edition of Clinical Forum, we asked three Cardiology Review editorial board members to comment on multivessel versus culprit-vessel-only PCI in patients with acute myocardial infarction, considering perspectives from the PRAMI and CvLPRIT trials.

With the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law upon us, ample time has passed to allow us to take stock of the law's effects on the practice and business of cardiology, and to make some informed predictions regarding future developments.

Independent of other dietary and lifestyle factors, a whole grain diet is associated with a lower risk of overall and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine claimed.

Rheumatoid arthritis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension have similar survival rates, according to research published in Respirology.

Cardiology Review editor-in-chief Debabrata Mukherjee, MD, reviews the contents of this month's issue.

Cardiovascular risks are increased proportionally among pediatric patients with increasing obese body mass indexes, according to research from JAMA Pediatrics.

Length of surgery is linked to the likelihood of developing venous thromboembolism, according to research published in JAMA Surgery.