Self-organizing heart organoids – developed at the Austrian Academy of Sciences – are also effective injury- and in vitro congenital disease models. These “cardioids” may revolutionize research into cardiovascular disorders and malformations of the heart. The results are published in the journal Cell.
Cities harbour a dangerous cocktail of environmental stressors which politicians must tackle to save lives and preserve health. That’s the conclusion of a paper published in European Heart Journal, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). “By 2050, three in four people will live in cities, where up to 80% of energy is consumed and 70% of greenhouse gases are emitted,” said…
Activity monitors via phones and bracelets help to assess exercise but experts question which device may really stimulate activity in cardiovascular patients, and which might be best for research?
In Germany, more than 200,000 people suffer a heart attack every year. Despite good medical care, many are left with reduced cardiac output. This is particularly true for patients with severe heart attacks: more than 30 percent of those affected develop heart failure, and almost half of them die within the next five years. Experts at the Department of Cardiology and Angiology at Hannover Medical…
A branch of artificial intelligence (AI), called machine learning, can accurately predict the risk of an out of hospital cardiac arrest--when the heart suddenly stops beating--using a combination of timing and weather data, finds research published online in the journal Heart. Machine learning is the study of computer algorithms, and based on the idea that systems can learn from data and identify…
A new study from the University of Surrey and University College London has revealed that treatment for heart attacks could be improved thanks to a novel method of evaluating heart function using contrast-based MRI scans. According to the British Heart Foundation, heart and circulatory diseases cause more than a quarter (27 per cent) of all deaths in the UK, which equates to more than 160,000…
A new research project will embrace the combination of 5G telecommunications technology and AI to offer continuous remote monitoring to seriously ill heart failure patients, for example those with Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs).
Women and men are different – nobody would argue with this statement. However, in medicine, gender plays a subordinate role. Neither research, prevention nor therapy adequately reflect this difference. “This is no longer acceptable,” says internist and cardiologist Prof. Dr. Vera Regitz-Zagrosek.
Medical robotics company Robocath announces the successful completion of first five robotic coronary angioplasties in Belgium. The Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (PCI) were performed on April 8 and 13 by Prof. Stefan Verheye, a recognized and highly experienced interventional cardiologist at ZNA Middelheim hospital in Antwerp, and his team. Robotic-assisted PCI has never been done before in…
Omega-3 supplements are associated with an increased likelihood of developing atrial fibrillation in people with high blood lipids. That’s the finding of a study published in European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
Kobe University Hospital’s Dr. Makoto Nishimori and Project Assistant Professor Kunihiko Kiuchi et al. (of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine) have developed an AI that uses multiple kinds of test data to predict the location of surplus pathways in the heart called ‘accessory pathways’, which cause the heart to beat irregularly. In this study, the…
In a recent study by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers, findings indicate that among patients with heart failure, obesity is associated with a higher risk of heart failure hospitalization or death due to cardiac causes. However, achieving biomarker-based treatment goals in heart failure improves the prognosis for patients irrespective of their obesity status.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first in the world non-surgical heart valve to treat pediatric and adult patients with a native or surgically-repaired right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT). The device, called the Harmony Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve (TPV) System, is intended to improve blood flow to the lungs in patients with severe pulmonary valve regurgitation without…
With the first-in-man implantation of the Berlin Heart Venous Cannula at the LMU University Hospital Munich, Germany, Berlin Heart offers patients with a failing Fontan circulation a unique chance to survive the waiting time for a donor heart. These patients are in a life-threatening condition: their health has deteriorated so much that they desperately need a new heart, but because of their poor…
Cardiac surgery across Europe is being set back as a result of the ongoing coronavirus. Operations are being postponed, treatment delayed, and critical care staff have been redeployed to cope with the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on health services. However, gaining a clear picture of the Europe-wide situation, and the long-term effects coronavirus will have on heart surgery, is a challenge…
Smart speakers, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, have proven adept at monitoring certain health care issues at home. For example, researchers at the University of Washington have shown that these devices can detect cardiac arrests or monitor babies breathing. But what about tracking something even smaller: the minute motion of individual heartbeats in a person sitting in front of a smart…
Researchers at The University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust have discovered a backup natural pacemaker, which is able to generate a pulse and control the heart rate. The British Heart Foundation funded study ‘completely changes our understanding’ of the heart’s anatomy and has important implications on the work of cardiologists and heart surgeons. As part of…
At this year's virtual ECR congress, Ziehm Imaging showcases its portfolio of mobile C-arms and advanced imaging solutions. Highlights on display include two clinical packages for cardio and vascular interventions based on the fully motorized Ziehm Vision RFD Hybrid Edition, that provide clinical users with state-of-the-art imaging support and further workflow integration. The virtual booth,…
Research scientists at Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital have investigated the mechanisms by which hypertension leads to arterial damage and atherosclerosis. The results may facilitate the development of new therapies. Hypertension is a prevalent condition affecting approximately one third of all adults. It is also the leading global cause of morbidity and mortality. The condition…
Around 50% of patients who have been hospitalised with severe Covid-19 and who show raised levels of a protein called troponin have damage to their hearts. The injury was detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at least a month after discharge, according to new findings published in the European Heart Journal. Damage includes inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), scarring or…
For the first time, engineered heart muscle (EHM) from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) will be used to treat patients with heart failure. After regulatory approval, recruitment of the first patient for the first-in-class, first-in-patient BioVAT-HF early clinical trial has started in Göttingen, Germany.
The first evidence from genetic data that high blood pressure is causally associated with the most common heart rhythm disorder is published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
Covid-19 patients who suffer a cardiac arrest either in or out of hospital are far more likely to die than patients who are not infected with the coronavirus. In particular, women have the highest risk of dying: they are nine times more likely to die after suffering a cardiac arrest in hospital, according to research published in the European Heart Journal.
Engineers at EPFL’s Center for Artificial Muscles have developed a silicone aorta that can reduce how hard patients’ hearts have to pump. Their breakthrough could offer a promising alternative to heart transplants. “Over 23 million people around the world suffer from heart failure. The disease is usually treated with a transplant, but because donated hearts are hard to come by, there is an…
The most deadly global health crisis in a century has resulted in a substantial decline in overall heart surgery volume and an unexplained increase in deaths after coronary artery bypass grafting, according to late-breaking research presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.