Medical Center

Both obesity and hypertension were independently significant risk factors for left atrial (LA) enlargement–a risk factor for atrial fibrillation–in >1000 persons in the community who were followed with echocardiography over a decade, but obesity was the most predictive of the two, report investigators in the November 17, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American [...]

Delayed-enhancement MRI (DE-MRI) shows promise as a predictor of cardiac transplantation and all-cause mortality in the largest trial to assess the prognostic value of DE-MRI-identified myocardial scarring over a relatively long follow-up [1]. A review of 857 consecutive patients undergoing DE-MRI at St Luke’s Episcopal Hospital by Dr Benjamin Cheong (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, [...]

Interventional cardiologist Dr Donald Baim, chief medical and scientific officer at Boston Scientific, has died due to complications of surgery for treating recently diagnosed adrenal cancer. A message sent from Boston Scientific CEO Ray Elliott to company employees called Baim “a pioneer in the development of interventional cardiology,” who “served Boston Scientific with enormous dedication, [...]

BNP Used Chiefly in Heart Failure BNP is a neurohormone produced mainly in the ventricular myocardium and is a known regulator of cardiovascular function that is widely used a marker of heart failure. The precursor protein pro-B-type natriuretic peptide is cleaved to form BNP and the amino terminal NT-proBNP, and both of these circulate in [...]

Newly diagnosed hypertensive individuals with no cardiovascular disease who were highly adherent to their antihypertensive treatment had a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular events compared with their low-adherent counterparts, according to an analysis of a large number of patients from a general-practice registry published online October 5, 2009 in Circulation [1].   The study provides interesting [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Oct 07 – Paraoxonase (PON)-1 variants influence the long-term risk of fatal complications from coronary artery disease in men, Dutch researchers report in the September 29th issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. J. Wouter Jukema at Leiden University Medical Center and colleagues observe that PON-1, a [...]

Exactly three years after the drug-eluting-stent (DES) “firestorm” ignited at the World Congress of Cardiology 2006 here in Barcelona, experts in the field are doing their best to gingerly stamp out some of the still-smoldering coals. But the topic of late stent-thrombosis risk with DES still produces sparks. In a session entitled “Is it time [...]

The use of low-dose aspirin in the primary prevention of cardiovascular events in healthy individuals with asymptomatic atherosclerosis is currently not warranted, according to the lead researcher of a large “real-world” study presented today at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2009 Congress. In the randomized trial of 3350 subjects deemed at high risk for [...]

Heart failure (HF) is a condition in which a problem with the structure or function of the heart impairs its ability to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the body’s needs. It should not be confused with cardiac arrest (see Terminology, below).  Common causes of heart failure include myocardial infarction and other forms of ischemic [...]

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved dronedarone (Multaq, Sanofi-Aventis) to reduce the risk of cardiovascular hospitalization in the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) or atrial flutter. The decision follows the recommendation of the Cardiovascular and Renal Drug Advisory Panel, which earlier this year voted 10-3 in favor of approval, a decision reported [...]