Cardiovascular diseases

Successfully treating CHD in infancy

Germany - 0.7% of newborn babies need surgery for congenital heart defects (CHD) - i.e. around 5,000-6,000 children in every 700,000 born.

Small silent VADs

Ventricular assist devices (VAD) have been used since the 1980s, primarily to provide support after cardiac surgery for several days during recovery, or more often to keep patients alive until later heart transplantation (HTx).

CHF: A major healthcare burden

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a major healthcare problem with 1-2% of the population affected in Western countries. Because it increases with age, the prevalence of CHF is escalating with our aged populations.

Cardiovascular disease

Europe - Every year, 4 million people die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Europe as a whole (as many as 800,000 of them under 65 years old) and, in the EU Member States, over 1.5 million people die annually from CVD.

BP: A poor indicator for cardiac disease

Blood pressure (BP) screening, either alone or in combination with other cardiovascular risk factors such as cholesterol levels, does not determine a person's chance of having a heart attack or stroke, reports Professor Malcolm Law and colleagues at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in the Journal of Medical Screening.

The electronic stethoscope

A processing system said to pick up cardiac sounds and correlate these with any related abnormalities, e.g. valve defects, stenosis, fibrillation, septal defect, etc, has been developed by the US firm Biosignetics Corporation.

The ESC Congress

25,000 visitors and medical professionals from 47 National Cardiac Societies across central and greater Europe, will attend the 2004 ESC Congress, where 'Diabetes and heart disease' will be the main theme. Lars Ryden, ESC Past-President, team member for the Euro-Heart Survey on Diabetes, and Chairman of the 'Guidelines for Diabetes & the Heart', and William Wijns, co-chair and Chairman of the…

Viagra tested on Everest

Sildenafil, an active agent used in the impotence drug Viagra, has been administered to seven young mountaineers on an Everest expedition, to test its effect on the lungs. Seven other men on the expedition are receiving a placebo.

PUI saves costs

Russia & Netherlands - Immediate echocardiographic assessment during consultation rounds can lead to significant cost savings and can shorten the time to diagnosis, according to a new study carried out by teams at the Dept. of Cardiology, Thoraxcentre, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam and the Dept. of Internal Diseases, Medical Academy of Nizhny, Novgorod.

Mobile test detects infarction in minutes

The earlier a cardiac infarction is detected the better the patient's chances of survival. However, because tests for cardiac infarction check for protein molecules that are released from heart muscle during cell necrosis, and these enter the blood very slowly, it can take three hours to gain a reliable result.

Taxus

France - Four studies of three TAXUS paclitaxel-eluting stents have demonstrated their safety and efficacy, according to the maker, Boston Scientific Corporation of Natick, Maryland, USA.

50 years of open heart surgery

Fifty years ago Henry Gibbon introduced a vital tool for cardiac surgery - the heart-lung machine. While pioneering efforts were made in the first half of the 20th century, this equipment enabled reproducible operations for either congenital or acquired heart disease in many patients.

Article • Research, diagnostics, therapies

Focus on Cardiology

Arrhythmias, valve defects, heart attacks: Cardiologists face a wide range of disorders and diseases. Equally diverse are diagnostics and therapeutic options. Find out what the field has to offer.