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MDCT is a better way to measure annular size in patients with aortic stenosis who are candidates for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) than two dimensional echocardiography, a new study indicates. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-mdct-valve-implant-size-transcatheter.html Cardiology Sat, 13 Apr 2013 04:31:31 EST news285046279 Among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, long-term treatment with the medication spironolactone improved left ventricular diastolic function but did not affect maximal exercise capacity, patient symptoms, or quality of life, according to a study appearing in the February 27 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-long-term-medication-symptoms-heart-failure.html Cardiology Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:00:05 EST news281108264 Leading international researchers and doctors are meeting at the University of Otago, Wellington this week to identify new approaches to reducing the very high levels of rheumatic fever in New Zealand and Australia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-approaches-combating-rheumatic-fever-children.html Inflammatory disorders Tue, 05 Feb 2013 06:20:01 EST news279267041 Heart failure patients with a condition called "heart block" derive significant benefit from cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), according to the results of the Block HF clinical trial, presented today at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2012 meeting in Los Angeles. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-patients-heart-block-strong-benefit.html Cardiology Tue, 06 Nov 2012 19:30:12 EST news271438171 The inaugural international guidelines for the diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease (RHD), a disease that affects tens of millions of people worldwide, have today been published by the World Heart Federation in Nature Reviews Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-international-guidelines-echocardiographic-diagnosis-rheumatic.html Cardiology Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:32:55 EST news249647540 "Up until now infarct size has only been measured as part of clinical studies and not in routine clinical practice. The reason being that the reference method of gadolinium based contrast agents in MRI is expensive, takes a great deal of time to perform, and can only be undertaken by imaging specialists," explains EAE president Dr Luigi Badano, from the University of Padua, Italy. "The advantages of STE over MRI is that it's far quicker to use, cheaper, and can be used by cardiologists at the bedside with portable machines, and repeated serially when ever needed." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-echocardiography-future-infarct-size-quantification.html Cardiology Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:00:02 EST news242455549 Patients treated by physicians who billed for both technical (practice/equipment) and professional (supervision/ interpretation) components of nuclear and echocardiographic stress imaging tests were more likely to undergo such tests after coronary revascularization compared with patients of physicians who did not bill for these services, according to a study in the Nov. 9 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-financial-reimbursement-cardiac-stress.html Cardiology Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:29:23 EST news239992157 Since 2007 Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) has become an alternative treatment for elderly patients with severe aortic stenosis at high risk for surgical aortic valve replacement. At present, durability and hemodynamic performance of transcatheter aortic valves remain unclear. Our single center data of the German Heart Center in Munich demonstrates a sustained improvement of hemodynamic performance up to 3 years after CoreValve implantation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-hemodynamic-results-transcatheter-aortic-valve.html Cardiology Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:38:32 EST news233923080 A German team has developed a completely new non-invasive method to identify heart failure. It consists of an "electronic nose" which could make the "smelling" of heart failure possible. The projet was presented at the ESC Congress 2011 today. "The early detection of chronic heart failure (CHF) through periodical screening facilitates early treatment application" said investigator Vasileios Kechagias from the University Hospital Jena. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-heart-failure-electronic-nose.html Cardiology Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:20:24 EST news233835606 Sudden cardiac death in young athletes who had not previously exhibited symptoms is a relatively rare yet tragic event. This occurs in around 60-80 young athletes annually in the United States. In the June 2011 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers collected electrocardiograms and echocardiograms of 964 athletes at a single university and found that distinct ECG abnormalities were present in 10% and were more common in males as well as black athletes. Two athletes were subsequently excluded from competition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-preparticipation-cardiac-screening-college-athletes.html Health Thu, 26 May 2011 10:00:55 EST news225622827 Elderly patients with symptoms of heart failure and increased concentrations in the blood of the biomarker copeptin, or a combination of elevated concentrations of copeptin and the biomarker NT-proBNP, had an associated increased risk of all-cause death, according to a study in the May 25 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-biomarkers-death-elderly-patients-heart.html Cardiology Tue, 24 May 2011 16:48:45 EST news225474503