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Congestive Heart Failure Medical and Health News Headlines
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All Recent Congestive Heart Failure Medical Condition News Headlines |
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Myoblast transfer in ischemic heart failure: effects on rhythm stability.
Authors: Sherman W, He KL, Yi GH, Wang J, Harvey J, Lee MJ, Haimes H, Lee P, Miranda E, Kanwal S, Burkhoff D
Skeletal myoblast (SM) implantation promotes recovery of myocardial function after ischemic injury. Clinical observations suggest an association of SM implantation and ventricular arrhythmias. Support for this link has been sought in animal studies, but none employing models of congestive heart failure. In a canine model of postinfarction congestive heart failure (CHF) we compared the frequency of rhythm disturbances using ambulatory electrocardiography monitoring following skeletal myoblast or saline (SAL) implantation. In 19 mongrel dogs ischemic injury and CHF were induced by intracoronary microsphere infusions. Direct intramyocardial injection of autologous skeletal myoblast......
POSTED 07/01/2009 at 05:14 AM --
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Percutaneous cell delivery into the heart using hydrogels polymerizing in situ.
Authors: Martens TP, Godier AF, Parks JJ, Wan LQ, Koeckert MS, Eng GM, Hudson BI, Sherman W, Vunjak-Novakovic G
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US. Following an acute myocardial infarction, a fibrous, noncontractile scar develops, and results in congestive heart failure in more than 500,000 patients in the US each year. Muscle regeneration and the induction of new vascular growth to treat ischemic disorders of the heart can have significant therapeutic implications. Early studies in patients with chronic ischemic systolic left ventricular dysfunction (SLVD) using skeletal myoblasts or bone marrow-derived cells report improvement in left ventricular ejection function (LVEF) and clinical status, without notable safety issues. Nonetheless, the efficacy of cell transfer ......
POSTED 07/01/2009 at 05:14 AM --
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Postoperative outcomes in intimal aortic angiosarcoma: A case report and review of the literature
We present the case of a 74-year-old woman with intimal angiosarcoma that manifested with the triad of congestive heart failure, acute renal failure, and abdominal angina. A review of the literature and discussion of postoperative outcomes follows. (Source: Journal of Vascular Surgery)...
POSTED 06/29/2009 at 11:07 AM --
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Journal Scan: Predicting Freedom From Clinical Events in Non-ST-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes: The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (Heart 2009;95:888-894.)
Data were analyzed from 24,097 patients with NSTEMI or unstable angina included in the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) (January 2001 to September 2007). In-hospital events were myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, congestive heart failure or shock, major bleeding, stroke, or death. Tw. . . (Source: Cardiosource)...
POSTED 06/29/2009 at 06:03 AM --
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Comparison of inflammatory biomarkers between diabetic and non-diabetic patients with unstable angina
CONCLUSION: We found no difference in inflammatory activity between diabetic and non-diabetic patients with UA, suggesting that this clinical condition may result in balanced inflammatory activity between the two groups and increase acute-phase proteins independently of metabolic state.FUNDAMENTO: Pocos estudios compararon la actividad inflamatoria entre pacientes diabéticos y no-diabéticos con síndrome coronario agudo, y todavía no se publicó ninguno que investigara solamente a los portadores de angina inestable (AI). OBJETIVO: Este estudio tuvo dos objetivos. En primer lugar, comparar los niveles séricos de proteína C reactiva (PCR) y interleuquina-6 (IL-6) en pacientes diabéticos y no-diabéticos con angina inestable (AI) para determinar si la diferencia en la actividad inflamat......
POSTED 06/28/2009 at 10:02 AM --
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New developments in anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity.
Authors: Mordente A, Meucci E, Silvestrini A, Martorana GE, Giardina B
Anthracyclines are among the most effective anticancer drugs ever developed. Unfortunately, their clinical use is severely limited by the development of a progressive dose-dependent cardiomyopathy that irreversibly evolves toward congestive heart failure, usually refractory to conventional therapy. The pathophysiology of anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy remains controversial and incompletely understood. The current thinking is that anthracyclines are toxic per se but gain further cardiotoxicity after one-electron reduction with ROS overproduction or two-electron reduction with conversion to C-13 alcohol metabolites. ROS overproduction can probably be held responsible for anthracycline acute cardiotoxicity, but n......
POSTED 06/27/2009 at 10:08 PM --
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Predictors of mortality in medically treated patients with congestive heart failure of nonrheumatic etiology and reduced systolic function.
CONCLUSIONS: In medically treated patients with nonrheumatic chronic heart failure and left ventricular systolic dysfunction, severity of mitral regurgitation, age and enlarged LV end-systolic dimension were independently associated with increased risk of death.
PMID: 19524174 [PubMed - in process] (Source: European Journal of Internal Medicine)...
POSTED 06/27/2009 at 07:49 PM --
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Cost Benefits of Peritoneal Dialysis in Specific Groups of Patients.
Authors: Rodrigues A
The cost benefit of peritoneal dialysis (PD) is refl ected in generally lower expenditure than in-center hemodialysis while clinical advantages of home therapy are guaranteed. PD offers similar patient survival in comparison with hemodialysis, and opportunities of better adequacy, beyond Kt/V, including continuous removal of uremic toxins, residual renal function protection, nutritional intraperitoneal support, and life satisfaction. Advances on the modality including the use of icodextrine, automated PD, low-glucose degradation products, new solutions and individualized schedules promise to improve the prognosis of risk patients under dialysis such as diabetics and patients with congestive heart failure, the elderly, the fast transporters or the anuric. Patients d......
POSTED 06/27/2009 at 06:48 PM --
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PleurX catheter for the management of refractory pleural effusions in congestive heart failure.
We report here our experience, over a 2-year period, with a novel device, the Denver Biomedical PleurX pleural catheter, in treating a series of 5 patients who had chronic, refractory, heart-failure-associated pleural effusions. The PleurX catheter is a small-bore chest tube designed to remain in place for prolonged periods, through which drainage of pleural fluid can be performed easily on a daily or less frequent outpatient basis. Placement of the catheter, in our series, was associated with no complications. In all patients, the catheter effectively drained the pleural space initially, thereby controlling the effusions and alleviating New York Heart Association functional class IV symptoms. The catheters remained in place for a period of 1 to 15 months. In 2 of the patients, the cathete......
POSTED 06/27/2009 at 10:04 AM --
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The Many Facets of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Review of Background, Clinical Utility, and Increasing Use in the Community Hospital.
Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has advanced in the last ten years and has been proven a reliable and flexible method for cardiac diagnosis. Stress perfusion magnetic resonance imaging has been shown to accurately detect coronary heart disease. The role of CMR is also increasing for evaluation of congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathies. Late gadolinium enhancement highlights areas of myocardial scar and helps predict prognosis. CMR usually complements, but does not fully replace other diagnostic modalities. Careful patient selection is required to ensure safety in the presence of this powerful magnetic field. No longer used just for esoteric conditions, CMR is becoming common in the community hospital.Page: 719DOI: 10.1097/SMJ.0b013e3181a8e2c6Authors: Gore, Thomas B. ......
POSTED 06/27/2009 at 05:56 AM --
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Spontaneous Thrombosis of a Large Vein of Galen Malformation
A large vein of Galen was diagnosed in a 9-month-old boy. This was not treated at birth, as there was no associated congestive heart failure. The patient was followed conservatively and follow-up magnetic resonance imaging showed increase in the size of the vein of Galen malformation. Subsequent cerebral angiogram demonstrated hypertrophied but thrombosed right posterior choroidal artery, suggesting spontaneous thrombosis of the arterial feeder and thus the embolization was not pursued. J Neuroimaging 2009;XX:1[ndash]2. (Source: Journal of Neuroimaging)...
POSTED 06/25/2009 at 06:00 PM --
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Prenatal Diagnosis of Congenital Heart Disease in an Era of Near-Universal Ultrasound Screening: Room for Improvement
In this issue of The Journal, Friedberg et al report the prenatal detection rate of major congenital heart defects (CHDs) among 3 major tertiary pediatric centers in northern California. For those who routinely diagnose and manage newborns with congenital heart disease, this study's results are not entirely unexpected; however, for those outside of the pediatric cardiac care community, they may be surprising. In the authors' study cohort, only 28% of major CHDs—lesions likely to present with congestive heart failure, low cardiac output, and/or hypoxemia in early infancy—were detected prenatally, despite near-uniform (99%) access to screening ultrasounds during the pregnancy. The question that follows is: If access to ultrasound screening is not the limiting factor, then why do we detec......
POSTED 06/25/2009 at 09:25 AM --
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Cardiac Rehabilitation and Survival in Older Coronary Patients
Conclusions: Mortality rates were 21% to 34% lower in CR users than nonusers in this socioeconomically and clinically diverse, older population after extensive analyses to control for potential confounding. These results are of similar magnitude to those observed in published randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses in younger, more selected populations. (Source: Journal of the American College of Cardiology)...
POSTED 06/25/2009 at 02:29 AM --
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Hospice use among patients with heart failure
Conclusion: Our study provides detailed estimates of hospice use and identifies potential areas of hospice care that are unique to HF patients. Our findings generate hypotheses about the Medicare Hospice Benefit, specifically whether changes to the 6-month prognosis criterion for hospice eligibility would result in increased hospice use for HF patients. We hope that our results will stimulate additional studies to elucidate differences in hospice use between HF and cancer patients, including patient perspectives of hospice care and clinician referral patterns. (Source: American Heart Journal)...
POSTED 06/25/2009 at 02:27 AM --
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Clinical characteristics, management, and prognosis of octogenarians with acute heart failure admitted to cardiology wards: Results from the Italian Survey on Acute Heart Failure
Conclusions: Octogenarians represent more than one fourth of the admissions for AHF and have a more severe clinical presentation. Their management is less aggressive, and treatments recommended by guidelines are underused. In-hospital mortality is high in the OLD group independently of left ventricular ejection fraction. (Source: American Heart Journal)...
POSTED 06/25/2009 at 02:27 AM --
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Serial bedside B-type natriuretic peptide strongly predicts prognosis in acute coronary syndrome independent of echocardiographic abnormalities
Conclusion: In ACS, bedside BNP levels predict CV events at 10 months, independent of many echocardiographic abnormalities including LVH. Furthermore, our study suggests that an additional 7 weeks post ACS BNP enhances risk stratification over and above a one-off high BNP at baseline. (Source: American Heart Journal)...
POSTED 06/25/2009 at 02:27 AM --
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Phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors: are they cardioprotective?
A growing body of animal studies provides evidence for potential cardioprotective effects of inhibitors of the enzyme phosphodiesterase isoform 5. Infarct size reduction by administration of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors was described in various experimental models of ischaemia and reperfusion. Furthermore, potential beneficial effects were demonstrated in experimental models of congestive heart failure and left ventricular hypertrophy. Some of the observed effects resemble the basic mechanisms of ischaemic pre-conditioning, mimicking both acute and delayed effects. Other effects may be due to action on systemic and cardiac haemodynamics. Mechanisms and signalling pathways, characterized in some of the experimental models, appear to be complex: for instance, the rate of cyclic guanosine m......
POSTED 06/24/2009 at 06:00 PM --
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Five new reward programs for physicians focus on chronic diseases
Bridges to Excellence has launched five new reward programs for physicians to assess improvements in the diagnosis, treatment and management of chronic conditions such as asthma, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary artery disease and hypertension. (Source: Healthcare IT News)...
POSTED 06/24/2009 at 09:14 AM --
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Health institute to study readmissions of heart disease patients
The West Wireless Health Institute, a San Diego-base medical research organization, is collaborating with Corventis, Inc., to launch the institutes first clinical research program. The new program will look into how to lower hospital readmissions among heart disease patients. (Source: Healthcare IT News)...
POSTED 06/24/2009 at 09:09 AM --
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Heart failure in left-sided native valve infective endocarditis: characteristics, prognosis, and results of surgical treatment
Conclusion
Left-sided native valve IE complicated by CHF is more frequent in aortic IE and is associated with severe regurgitation. Congestive heart failure is an independent predictor of in-hospital and 1 year mortality. In CHF patients, early surgery is independently associated with reduced mortality and should be widely considered to improve outcome. (Source: European Journal of Heart Failure)...
POSTED 06/23/2009 at 06:00 PM --
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