Cardiology

Researchers have discovered that ion channel disorders may account for one-third of unexplainable sudden cardiac death in young people.

Researchers have found that "coronary bypass surgery may carry less risk of serious complications if stents coated with a drug that suppresses cell growth are used in the procedure rather than bare-metal stents."

Are doctors implanting too many stents? Can a new diagnostic tool enable physicians to get a better picture of coronary arterial blood flow and determine whether medication may be a better option than stenting?

How many times have you had to ask a patient "Are you taking your medications?" And then get the response, "Yes, but I ran out a couple of days ago."

The American Roentgen Ray Society reported that two tools commonly used to assess patients for risk of CHD may not accurately predict patients’ risk of CHD.

Researchers have found that "testing patient's blood for two proteins or biomarkers that occur when inflammation is present could help doctors identify which patients are more likely to have a stroke."

Researchers have "identified a variation in a particular gene that increases a person's susceptibility to early coronary artery disease."

Coronary heart disease (CHD) and chronic heart failure (CHF) are common chronic conditions encountered in primary care. Studies have shown that despite a strong evidence base, these conditions are often poorly diagnosed and inadequately managed in primary care.

A 67-year-old man who had an inferior myocardial infarction (MI) 3 years earlier had a daily medication regimen that included aspirin, 75 mg; atenolol (Nova-Atenol, Tenormin), 50 mg; ramipril (Altace), 2.5 mg; and simvastatin (Zocor), 10 mg.

Chronic heart failure and coronary heart disease are chronic conditions that are frequently encountered in primary care and are often inadequately diagnosed and managed.

A 62-year-old man presented to our institution because of a history of chest pain that occurred once weekly, usually after eating, and improved with activity.

A study by Peterson and colleagues used a large electronic patient database to demonstrate how patients at risk for nonfatal coronary events may be identified using reduced exercise capacity on treadmill stress testing as a parameter.

Reduced exercise capacity is associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction, unstable angina, and coronary revascularization in patients referred for exercise treadmill testing for clinical indications.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia, occurring in over 2% of the general population.

The first stent was invented in 1969 by Charles Theodore Dotter, experimenting on canine peripheral arteries.

The introduction of drug-eluting stents (DESs) in 2003 was a landmark development in the field of interventional cardiology.

According to an American Heart Association news release, "age-adjusted death rates for coronary heart disease and stroke have each reached about a 30 percent reduction since 1999." However, this welcome news is offset by troubling trends in several risk factors, including rising obesity rates among children and adolescents, as well as chronic lack of exercise among adults age 18 years and older.

Modulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAA) system using angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) has been shown to have beneficial effects on blood pressure, diabetic nephropathy, coronary heart disease, and heart failure.