Cardiologists issue 1st international agreement for CRT management
Cardiologists issued the 1st international consensus statement on treating heart failure with cardiac resynchronization therapy, a technology implanted more than 1 million times in the last decade.
Previous guidelines had been issued by U.S. teams in 2007, 2008 and 2010, but the new recommendations incorporate consensus from Europe and North America.
"In this document we attempted to fill in the gaps in clinical evidence and provide practical recommendations for the evaluation and management of the CRT patient that could be applied to patients implanted anywhere in the world," U.S. joint task force co-chair Dr. Leslie Saxon said in prepared remarks.
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Can spinal cord stimulation improve heart health?
Researchers used spinal cord stimulation, using a pacemaker-like device to deliver electrical pulses to the spinal cord, to improve left ventricular pumping function in animal studies.
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TAVI improves patient health for at least 1 year
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation left severe aortic stenosis patients with "meaningful" health improvements that were maintained for at least 1 year following the procedure.
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Heart tissue separator improves 3-year outcomes in heart failure patients
A non-invasive device that separates healthy and damaged heart muscle boosted ventricle function and improved patient outcomes at 3 years.
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New blood test may predict who would most benefit from an ICD
Researchers develop a novel blood test to predict risk of sudden death in heart failure patients to help physicians make more informed decisions about which patients would most benefit from an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.
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Japan’s 2011 earthquake precedes spike in heart failure
The devastating tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011, which killed at least 15,800, immediately preceded a sharp spike in heart failure, acute coronary syndrome (including unstable angina and acute MI), stroke, cardio-pulmonary arrest and pneumonia in the local population.
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Are energy drinks heart-healthy?
Using a new type of echocardiography, researchers measured the heart performance a study of 35 healthy subjects who were given energy drinks. Performance of both the right and left ventricles improved after 1 hour at rest, compared to each individual’s baseline performance, according to the researchers.
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Exercise-related heart attacks less likely to result in death
Patients who experience a heart attack during or shortly after exercise are 3 times more likely to survive than those whose attacks were not exercise-related, according to the 3-year Amsterdam Resuscitation Study.
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Non-invasive imaging can accurately detect revascularization patients
A non-invasive imaging technique proves highly accurate in detecting which heart failure patients are in need of revascularization, according to the international Core320 study.
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Heart surgery together with ablation-based cardiac scarring best restores normal heart rhythms
Patients with atrial fibrillation returned to normal heart rhythm when they received the MAZE procedure, in which surgeons use ablation to create scarring on the heart, during heart surgery, according to the Prague-12 study.
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1st Euro registry finds ablation safe and effective in treating AF
Researchers report that catheter ablation is safe and effecting, suppressing symptoms of atrial fibrillation in 74% of patients after a single procedure, according to the Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Pilot Study, the 1st European registry to evaluate real-world results for AF.
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ECGs a cost-effective way to detect heart issues in young athletes
Cardiovascular ECG screening is a cost-effective way to evaluate young athletes for heart issues, costing about $182 (€115) per screening.
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ESC group launches Acute Cardiovascular Care Assn.
A working group within the European Society of Cardiology grew up into the newly launched the Acute Cardiovascular Care Assn., which will expand its scope beyond activity in the intensive care unit and into the pre-hospital phase of acute cardiovascular disease.
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Iniquities in heart rhythm disorders across Europe
Researchers discovered arrhythmic disorder treatment inequalities between Eastern and Western Europe, related not just to economic status but to access to implanting centers and properly trained healthcare professionals.
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