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AHA issues mechanical circulatory-support guidance for referring docs
Doctors treating advanced heart-failure patients should learn about their patients' options for mechanical circulatory support, according to a new recommendations document from the American Heart...
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"Frailty" scoring proves elusive but critical in TAVI risk assessment
An accurate assessment of operative risk is critical factor in the decision between transcatheter aortic-valve implantation and surgical valve replacement for patients with aortic-valve stenosis....
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CMS nails down Medicaid, Medicare raises for primary care
The long-promised increases in reimbursement will resemble hors d'oeuvres on the Titanic if Congress does not avert a 26.5% Medicare pay cut set for January 1, 2013.
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CRT-Ds are cost-effective in patients with class 2 or 3 HF
Researchers determined that for patients in the RAFT trial, implanting a cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator, as opposed to an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, is cost-effective. In...
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Treat kids with sore throats to curb rheumatic fever in South Africa
A new analysis of published research indicates that treating all children with sore throats in developing countries with a one-off injection of penicillin to try and stop progression to rheumatic fever...
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Big bucks, no bang: PHS II shows no benefits of vitamins for preventing CVD
More than one in three Americans spend hundreds of dollars each year on a daily multivitamin in the hopes of preventing future disease. Now the largest, longest-running randomized trial to date has...
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SCIPIO: Cardiac stem cells reverse heart failure
A small trial of injecting cardiac stem cells to repair infarcts in patients with ischemic myopathy once again raises hopes that this technology will eventually provide a solution in this difficult...
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MADIT-RIT: Simple programming change averts most inappropriate ICD therapy
UPDATED // The trial in primary-prevention patients, "a game changer," according to one expert, also showed a benefit for a key secondary end point when devices were programmed to deliver therapy only...
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RELAX-AHF: Serelaxin reduces dyspnea, but questions surround mortality benefit
Serelaxin reduced shortness of breath in patients with acute heart failure as assessed using one of two dyspnea end points, new research shows. Investigators were also excited by the reduction in...
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CARRESS-HF: Ultrafiltration disappoints in acute heart failure
Ultrafiltration was associated with worsening renal function and more severe adverse events compared with optimum drug therapy in patients with acute decompensated heart failure, worsened renal...
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Obama win gives four more years for Affordable Care Act implementation
Voters reelected President Barack Obama by a narrow margin, giving the Democrat four more years to implement the Affordable Care Act in the face of continued opposition by Congressional Republicans.
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Likelihood of cancer diagnosis jumps after recognition of heart failure
The observed increase in incident cancer among heart-failure patients in an observational study was independent of comorbidities and risk factors.
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RIME: Annuloplasty rings boost functional capacity in moderate MR
A small trial suggests that performing mitral-valve repair using an annuloplasty ring on top of elective CABG is superior to CABG alone for improving functional capacity in patients with moderate...
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BLOCK-HF: Replace RV pacing with BiV in AV-block heart failure
UPDATED // The trial shows significant survival gains when biventricular pacing, now so successful for resynchronization in long-QRS systolic heart failure, replaces right ventricular pacing in HF...
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New US stats on Chagas heart failure show outlook is grim
Recent data from a Latin American immigrant population in the US show that people suffering from cardiomyopathy caused by Chagas disease—a parasitic infection endemic to Central and South...
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RATE registry: Longer bouts of atrial arrhythmia have worse outcomes
The RATE registry tracked the incidence of atrial tachyarrhythmia in patients with implanted cardiac rhythm management devices to understand the risks associated with atrial tachycardia and atrial...
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Women with ICDs: Higher mortality, more hospitalizations than men
Women are sicker than men when they get primary-prevention ICDs, and it seems to show in their poorer outcomes, according to NCDR data. Why is that?
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FDA approves HeartWare VAD for bridging to transplant
It's the agency's first ventricular-assist-device approval based on a study with controls taken from a registry, in this case INTERMACS.
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Pall cast on Durata ICD lead as FDA document made public
The FDA's version of a report previously made public by St Jude raises new concerns about the company's Durata ICD lead.
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New lab clues for regenerative therapies for CAD
Future experiments for regenerative therapies for use in coronary artery disease may be informed by pioneering new work in mice embryos.
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