Cardiology

With a new class of drugs on the horizon questions remain about what PCSK9 inhibitors will mean to the future of cardiac care. Doctors are slowly learning the answers to those questions as possible approval draws closer.

Interventional cardiologists would do better to access heart arteries through a patient's arm than groin, a Dutch study found. Though the radial approach is technically more difficult, it is safer with a lower risk of severe bleeding.

As Doctors become more familiar with the new cholesterol guidelines it will be up to them to carry the message to the patients about ways they can improve their overall health.

Physicians may think patients over 80 are too old to benefit from agressive care to treat unstable angina or clogged arteries that caused a heart attack. Think again, a Norwegian researcher said at the American College of Cardiology meeting in San Diego, CA. These patients were 47% more likely to survive and healthier after invasive procedures than a group that got non-invasive care.

It has been many years since guidelines looking at cholesterol control were revised. Now the question is how to keep the new guidelines current even in the future.

An analysis of more than 20,000 records indicates that patients who choose catheter ablation rather than cardioversion for atrial fibrillation face an elevated stroke risk immediately after the procedure but a lower stroke risk thereafter.

A review of research conducted over the past 75 years finds no definitive answers about the link between testosterone supplements and cardiovascular health, but it does find far more evidence of benefit than harm.

People with healthy blood pressure levels tend to have higher levels of vitamin D than those with high blood pressure. But a new review of studies on vitamin D supplementation showed taking it did not lower high blood pressure.

Neurology and cardiology may not always work together to promote a person's overall health but some recent research has shown a closer connection between the two fields.

When he first discussed the idea of a vaccine to help fight heart disease P.K. Shah, MD, said he was laughed at for even considering the work. Several decades later the doctor is being lauded as his dream comes closer to becoming a reality.

Having worked at Cedars Sinai since 1982 Robert J. Siegel, MD, has seen a lot of changes in the medical profession and helped many doctors hone their craft as they begin their own work in the field.

The practice of using a syringe to suck a blood clot out of a coronary artery when a heart attack patient is undergoing angioplasty is common. But a study of 10,000 patients showed this manual thrombectomy procedure was associated with a higher rate of strokes in these patients.

With more complex patients anything surgeons can do to ensure success with surgery is a benefit. A recent study looked at how imaging can predict whether cardiac procedures will go well for them and their patients.

Most surgeons refer patients for postoperative physical rehabilitation, but there is little evidence supporting the decision by some to start physical therapy before surgery. An article in the February 2015 issue of Physical Therapy looked at employing physical therapy earlier to prevent complications.

Despite advancements in stents, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) still prevails over balloon angioplasty and stents as the better treatment method for patients with multiple narrowed arteries in the heart.

Patient care continues to make dramatic changes including the way information is shared not only between doctors and patients, but also other doctors treating the same people. Technology making that happen continues to evolve as well.

In patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation, those who had catheter ablation had better results than those who took the anti-arrhythmic medication amiodarone, reported researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

Coronary interventionalists face a wide variety of challenges on a daily basis and as patients post greater problems it is up to the doctors to come up with new ways to treat them.

When patients have chest pain, a CT scan can rule out disease or find it, the SCOT-HEART study found. That led to some patients learning they did not need treatment and others getting interventions that saved lives.

The use of targeted temperature management in patients who have suffered cardiac arrest remains a highly debated topic, especially in terms of whether there is an optimal target temperature for maximum benefit in reducing mortality and preserving cognitive function.

Paul Spittle, vice president, Cardiovascular and Respiratory, AstraZeneca US, discusses results from the PEGASUS trial and explains what they may mean for heart attack and stroke risk in patients who have suffered a myocardial infarction.

Female smokers were the most susceptible to emphysema in a study of male and female smokers and non smokers from Johns Hopkins.

Sunil Agarwal, MD, from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, discussed the results of his research on the use of continuous cardiac monitoring to monitor elderly patients for atrial fibrillation and sub-clinical arrhythmia and help reduce their risk of stroke and other health complications.

Jason Katz, MD, MHS, from the University of North Carolina, discusses recent improvements in the field of coronary intensive care and identifies promising research that could lead to additional positive outcomes for patients.

Only 1 in 5 patients who might benefit from an implantable defibrillator after being hospitalized for heart failure gets counselling on that option, a Duke study found.

The TriGuard filter, an investigational device designed to protect the brain from hazardous debris released during transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and other procedures was found to improve in-hospital safety outcomes and cognitive scores at discharge.

A recent study comparing outcomes from ablation to treatment with medication showed the procedure provided greater benefit for atrial fibrillation patients with congestive heart failure.

A trial of an anti-clotting therapy that might have given physicians a way to turn on and turn off the blood's tendency to clot had to be halted because some patients had severe allergic reactions, researchers reported. Now they are focusing on why that happened in hopes of reviving the work.

Compared with earlier generation devices, the SAPIEN 3 heart valve exhibited lower death, stroke, and paravalvular leak rates in high-risk surgery patients and demonstrated encouraging results in intermediate-risk patients.

Researchers had high hopes for the potential tissue-damage mediation capabilities of Bendavia, an experimental drug that targets the mitochondria. But a trial of Bendavia in patients undergoing angioplasty failed to show any significant benefit.