http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Treatment that consisted of shock wave (procedure using high-dose ultrasound)-mediated preconditioning of the target heart tissue prior to administration of bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells was associated with significant, albeit modest improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction (a measure of how well the left ventricle of the heart pumps with each contraction) after 4 months in patients with chronic postinfarction heart failure, according to a study in the April 17 issue of JAMA. The results, which require confirmation in larger trials, demonstrate the potential for this type of therapy to reduce adverse clinical events in these chronically ill patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-outcomes-heart-failure-cell-therapy.html Cardiology Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:39:51 EST news285349182 A common test that records the heart's electrical activity could predict potentially serious cardiovascular illness, according to a UC San Francisco-led study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-routine-ekg-heart-problem.html Cardiology Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:35:07 EST news285348900 MR images taken when the ventricles of the heart relax and fill with blood and then when the ventricles contract and eject blood to the rest of the body provide a more complete picture of the extent of myocardial scar in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, a new study finds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-images-systole-phase-scars-heart.html Cardiology Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:00:05 EST news284992313 (Medical Xpress)—It has been said that the heart sometimes sees what is invisible to the eye, but thanks to four Rice University mathematics students, the echocardiograms of patients at Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) in Houston may soon reveal something new to the eyes of pediatric cardiologists. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-echo-health-students-noninvasive-pediatric.html Cardiology Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:20:03 EST news284807138 Researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute report that they successfully used a virus vector to restore the expression of a brain protein and improve cognitive functions, in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-method-alzheimer-mice.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:20:38 EST news284026825 Among patients hospitalized for heart failure (HF) with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF; a measure of how well the left ventricle of the heart pumps with each contraction), initiation of the medication aliskiren in addition to standard therapy did not reduce cardiovascular death or HF rehospitalization at 6 or 12 months after discharge, according to a study published online by JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-combination-therapy-heart-failure-cv.html Cardiology Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:10:01 EST news282221431 Detection of midwall fibrosis (the presence of scar tissue in the middle of the heart muscle wall) via magnetic resonance imaging among patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (a condition affecting the heart muscle) was associated with an increased likelihood of death, according to a study appearing in the March 6 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-scarring-heart-muscle-linked-death.html Cardiology Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:00:07 EST news281710213 Among patients with coronary artery disease referred for cardiovascular magnetic resonance and found to have regional myocardial wall thinning (of the heart muscle), limited scar burden was associated with improved contraction of the heart and reversal of wall thinning after revascularization, suggesting that myocardial thinning is potentially reversible, according to a study appearing in the March 6 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-thinning-heart-muscle-wall-patients.html Cardiology Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:00:01 EST news281710179 While amyloid imaging may now be most associated with detecting plaques in the brain, it has the potential to change the way cardiac amyloidosis is diagnosed. According to first-of-its-kind research published in the February issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, positron emission tomography (PET) with 11C-PIB can positively visualize amyloid deposits in the heart. Currently there is no noninvasive test available for specific diagnosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-amyloid-imaging-cardiac-amyloidosis.html Medical research Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:34:36 EST news279200067 An analysis of two heart failure therapies finds differing outcomes regarding improvement in survival, according to two studies appearing in the November 28 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-therapies-heart-failure-survival.html Cardiology Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:02:33 EST news273258143 A study published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:8), now freely available on-line, has found that when mesenchymal cells derived from skeletal muscle (SM-MSCs) or adipose tissue (ADSCs) were injected into the heart muscle (myocardium) of separate groups of laboratory rats that had suffered a myocardial infarction, rats in both groups experienced significantly improved left ventricle function and smaller infarct size after cell therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-organ-derived-stem-cell-heart-function.html Cardiology Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:18:55 EST news273241126 Marked sustained improvement in all patients with zero adverse effects. For a phase I clinical trial, these results are the Holy Grail. Yet researchers from the University of Louisville and Brigham and Women's Hospital today reported just such almost-never-attained data. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-years-patients-stem-cell-therapy.html Cardiology Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:50:01 EST news271413526 Using a combination of surgical procedures developed over the last 11 years, surgeons at Boston Children's Hospital have established a new approach for rebuilding the heart in children born with a severe heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). This "staged left ventricle recruitment" (SLVR) strategy uses the existing standard single-ventricle treatment for HLHS and additional procedures to spur the body's capacity for healing and growth and encourage the small left ventricle in these children to grow and function. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-rebuilding-heart-children-born.html Cardiology Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:30:59 EST news271423821 (Medical Xpress)—Surgeons at Boston Children's Hospital have successfully implanted a modified version of an expandable prosthetic heart valve in several children with mitral valve disease. Unlike traditional prosthetic valves that have a fixed diameter, the expandable valve can be enlarged as a child grows, thus potentially avoiding the repeat valve replacement surgeries that are commonly required in a growing child. The new paradigm of expandable mitral valve replacement has potential to revolutionize care for infants and children with complex mitral valve disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-surgeons-prosthetic-valves-congenital-heart.html Cardiology Wed, 03 Oct 2012 04:05:22 EST news268455904 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report in a new study that thickening of the heart's right ventricle is associated with an increased risk of heart failure and cardiovascular death in patients without clinical cardiovascular disease at baseline. The study is published online ahead of print in the journal Circulation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-thickening-heart-ventricle-foreshadow-failure.html Cardiology Mon, 10 Sep 2012 07:38:25 EST news266481468 Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists should be considered as a treatment option in hypertensive patients with diastolic heart failure, said Professor Burkert Pieske presenting results today of the Aldosterone Receptor Blockade in Diastolic Heart Failure (Aldo-DHF) study at ESC Congress 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-mechanistic-effects-spironalactone-diastolic-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:06:05 EST news265284358 A novel non-invasive device which separates healthy and damaged heart muscle and restores ventricle function improves 3 year outcomes in patients with ischemic heart failure, according to research presented at the ESC Congress 2012. The findings were presented by Professor William T. Abraham at an ESC press conference on 25 August and by Dr Marco Costa at an ESC Congress scientific session on 27 August. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-heart-device-year-outcomes-failure.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:40:03 EST news265280308 Researchers have made a major advance in efforts to regenerate damaged hearts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-heart-muscle-cell-grafts-suppress.html Medical research Sun, 05 Aug 2012 13:00:16 EST news263384994 Rapamycin, an immunosuppressant drug used in a variety of disease indications and under study in aging research labs around the world, improved function and extended survival in mice suffering from a genetic mutation which leads to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and rare muscular dystrophies in humans. There are currently no effective treatment for the diseases, which include Emery-Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy and Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. The familial form of DCM often leads to sudden heart failure and death when those affected reach their 40's and 50's. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-rapamycin-effective-mouse-inherited-heart.html Medical research Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:00:02 EST news262439397 Regular meditation could decrease the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in teens who are most at risk, according to Georgia Health Sciences University researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-meditation-decrease-cardiovascular-disease-teens.html Health Thu, 07 Jun 2012 04:10:02 EST news258260215 Structural changes in heart muscle cells after heart failure can be reversed by allowing the heart to rest, according to research at Imperial College London. Findings from a study in rats published today in the European Journal of Heart Failure show that the condition's effects on heart muscle cells are not permanent, as has generally been thought. The discovery could open the door to new treatment strategies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-heart-failure-effects-cells-reversed.html Cardiology Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:31:06 EST news252559857 A research network led by a Mayo Clinic physician found that stem cells derived from heart failure patients' own bone marrow and injected into their hearts improved the function of the left ventricle, the heart's pumping chamber. Researchers also found that certain types of the stem cells were associated with the largest improvement and warrant further study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-bone-marrow-stem-cells-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:12:36 EST news251971945 Women with chronic heart failure survive longer than their male counterparts, according to a large analysis of studies comprising data on more than 40,000 subjects. The analysis represents the largest assessment of gender and mortality risk in heart failure - and provides evidence which many randomised trials have failed to do because they have been dominated by male patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-death-heart-failure-women-men.html Cardiology Thu, 08 Mar 2012 04:20:01 EST news250401661 Patients who had leaky mitral heart valves repaired along with bypass surgery had with healthier hearts than those who had bypass only, according to new research presented in the American Heart Association's Emerging Science Series webinar. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-mitral-valve-bypass-surgery-heart.html Cardiology Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:00:06 EST news249734472 Based on a review of the latest evidence, the Guidelines Committee of the Heart Failure Society of America now recommends that the use of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) be expanded to a larger group of patients with mild heart failure symptoms. Recommendations for integrating new evidence into clinical practice appear in the February issue of the Journal of Cardiac Failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-hfsa-cardiac-resynchronization-therapy.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:08:54 EST news249588527 Almost a year's treatment with a vitamin D compound did not alleviate key structural and functional cardiovascular abnormalities in patients with kidney disease and cardiac enlargement. In a paper in the February 15 Journal of the American Medical Association, an international research team reports that daily doses of a vitamin D compound did not reduce enlargement or improve impaired functioning of the heart's main pumping chamber. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-vitamin-d-treatment-cardiovascular-abnormalities.html Cardiology Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:00:01 EST news248438180 Researchers studying why arteries stiffen in postmenopausal women have found a specific chemical cofactor that dramatically improves vascular function. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-critical-element-vascular-function-postmenopausal.html Medical research Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:55:35 EST news248435684 In the largest and longest head-to-head comparison of two anti-clotting medications, warfarin and aspirin were similar in preventing deaths and strokes in heart failure patients with normal heart rhythm, according to late-breaking research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-warfarin-aspirin-similar-heart-failure.html Cardiology Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:55:40 EST news247492532 An estimated 1.6 million Americans suffer moderate to severe leakage through their tricuspid valves, which are complex structures that allow blood to flow from the heart's upper right chamber to the ventricle. If left untreated, severe leakage can affect an individual's quality of life and can even lead to death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-non-invasive-tricuspid-valve-anatomy-severity.html Cardiology Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:57:12 EST news246106599 "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