Heart Failure

In women with aortic stenosis (AS) survival is linked to whether resulting left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is adaptive or maladaptive. In men with AS, there is no such link, a German study found.

For patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, statin therapy is often not enough to reduce LDL cholesterol. In two articles in The Lancet, researchers report on promising results of two international Phase 3 trials of evolocumab. The drug is a monoclonal antibody to proprotein convertase sudbtilism/kexin type 9 (PCSK9).

New research indicates that atrial fibrillation (AF) eliminates the benefits that treatment with beta-blockers otherwise produces in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Anil Asgaonkar, MD, provides an overview of the signs, symptoms, and causes that are frequently associated with hyponatremia, and outlines several standard treatment approaches.

Is one beta blocker better than another for patients born with long QT syndrome? In a report published in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Abeer Abu-Zeitone, PhD, and colleagues found that in their study group, nadolol worked best at preventing a recurrent serious cardiac event and that propranolol, the oldest beta-blocker available, did the worst.

The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new algorithm that will enable many smart phones to detect signs of atrial fibrillation.

Heart failure patients are routinely given beta blockers, but the drugs appear to have no effect on patients who also have atrial fibrillation, a meta-analysis showed.

Results of a large international study known as SIGNIFY showed ivabradine offered no benefit to patients who had stable coronary artery disease without clinical heart failure (CHF).

Novartis plans to soon file a new drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its investigational heart failure drug LCZ696. A report showing the drug works better than enalapril to prevent adverse cardiac events was released at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona, Spain Aug. 30 and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

The US Food and Drug Administration announced it will give priority review status to Amgen's application to market ivabradine as a treatment for chronic heart failure.

New research suggests that most patients who have suffered a stroke can be taught to reliably detect the first signs of atrial fibrillation by measuring their peripheral pulse at the radial artery.

Research suggests that patients who develop seemingly temporary cases of atrial fibrillation immediately after most types of surgery are dramatically more likely to suffer subsequent strokes.

Analysis of more than 5,000 successful electrical cardioversions performed without anticoagulation suggests that patients and doctors must act fast to minimize the chances that acute atrial fibrillation will lead to thromboembolic events.

Many patients with multiple sclerosis have numerous comorbid chronic conditions that worsen mental health and increase mortality.

Although tumor necrosis factor inhibitors have dramatically improved management strategies for autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, the biologic agents also pose a number of significant side effects that physicians must consider.

Preliminary research suggests that optogenetics could eventually replace electric shocks in the treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Left untreated or inadequately treated, syphilis may cause tertiary cardiovascular disease, one form of which is syphilitic aortitis.

A pair of randomized controlled studies have both found that continuous monitoring of patients after cryptogenic strokes can detect several times as many cases of atrial fibrillation as conventional monitoring.

Phase II trial data suggest that a fixed-dose combination of ranolazine and low-dose dronedarone may significantly reduce disease burden among patients with atrial fibrillation.

Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have released a study showing the potential of a dangerous interaction between a common supplement and prescription medication.

New research financed by Medtronic Inc. suggests that implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy devices governed by its new algorithms may reduce atrial fibrillation-related complications in patients who have experienced heart failure.

Data from a large cohort of Swedish men suggest that regular vigorous exercise starting around age 30 may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation, particularly among those who stop exercising later in life.

A retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for heart failure with a left ventricular ejection fraction between 30-35% found improved 3-year survival rates among those who received a prophylactic implantable cardioverter-defibrillators compared to those with no ICD.

The first wireless implantable hemodynamic monitoring system for patients with heart failure has been approved by the FDA.

Should we give digoxin another look for chronic heart failure?

Patients treated with too much or too little warfarin for atrial fibrillation (AF) are significantly more likely to develop dementia than patients who maintain proper medication levels.

Analysis of American hospital data found that the incidence of strokes associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) shot up 42% in just 7 years.

New research explains why up to half of heart failure patients do not respond to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) and how physicians can determine which patients would benefit from CRT.

Study shows no correlation between stroke risk among atrial fibrillation patients and the likelihood that they'd receive prescriptions for risk-reducing medication during hospitalization.

A study published in BMJ explains the long-term risks of opioid treatment in the postoperative setting.