Browse Cardiology Articles by Topic

Arrhythmia Recurrence After Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

An integrated nationwide medical and pharmacy claims database analysis of patients with new atrial fibrillation undergoing catheter ablation as first-line therapy has shown that 17% of patients required repeat ablation for recurrent atrial fibrillation despite the frequent use of antiarrhythmic drugs.

DanGer Shock Trial Post-Hoc Analysis: Microaxial Pump Risks May Outweigh Benefits

In this post-hoc analysis of the DanGer Shock trial, patients in the highest quartile of age appeared to have higher mortality compared with younger patients, suggesting less benefit from routine application of the microaxial flow pump in older patients with acute myocardial infarction-related cardiogenic shock.

Durability of Mitral Valve Repair for Degenerative Mitral Regurgitation

A large, single-center, contemporary long-term follow-up of degenerative mitral valve disease patients undergoing mitral valve repair surgery has shown that 30-day post-operative mortality is < 1% and a median almost nine-year follow-up survival is 90%. Somewhat worse outcomes were observed in those with preoperative symptoms, reduced left ventricular function, atrial fibrillation, and isolated anterior leaflet disease.

Olezarsen Injection (Tryngolza)

The U.S. Food and Drug Aministration has approved olezarsen, a first-in-class drug to reduce triglycerides in adults with familial chylomicronemia syndrome. Olezarsen is an antisense oligonucleotide-directed inhibitor of apolipoprotein C-III messenger ribonucleic acid.

Combustible vs. Electronic Cigarettes Post-PCI

A large, nationwide South Korean study of smokers undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has shown that electronic cigarette use and smoking cessation resulted in similarly lower subsequent major adverse cardiac events compared to continued smoking.

Modifiable Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Late-Life Brain Health

The major modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases are delineated in Life’s Essential 8 (LE8), developed by the American Heart Association. These risk factors are blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, body mass index, smoking, physical activity, diet, and sleep duration. The investigators in this analysis of two large databases in the United Kingdom and the United States demonstrated that cardiovascular health, as defined by the LE8, will also predict brain health later in life.

Prognostic Value of Stress Echocardiography

A UK National Health Service database study of stress echocardiography has shown the degree of ischemia accurately predicts the risk of future cardiovascular events over five years. The same study also showed that a negative test in patients without a history of cardiac disease identifies patients with no more than the expected background risk of an event for patients in this demographic for five years.

Wine Consumption and Cardiovascular Health

A case-cohort subgroup of the PREDIMED study of older Mediterranean subjects at high cardiovascular disease risk, which used urinary tartaric acid to quantitate wine consumption, has shown over an almost five-year follow-up that light to moderate wine consumption was associated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular disease events.

Combustible vs. Electronic Cigarettes Post-PCI

A large, nationwide South Korean study of smokers undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has shown that electronic cigarette use and smoking cessation resulted in similarly lower subsequent major adverse cardiac events compared to continued smoking.

Cardiovascular Risk with mRNA COVID Vaccines

A large, nationwide population study in Sweden of the risk of adverse cardiovascular events after messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccinations has shown that, except for rare cases of myopericarditis, severe cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction, heart failure, and stroke, are reduced, probably because of the prevention of COVID infection.