January, 2024

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ECG Blog #411 — Is it Wenckebach?

Ken Grauer, MD

How would YOU interpret the tracing in Figure-1 — that was sent to me without additional information? QUESTIONS: What is the rhythm? Is there AV dissociation? If so — WHY? Clinically — HOW would you approach interpretation of this tracing in optimal time -efficient fashion? Figure-1: The initial ECG in today's case. KEY Clinical Point: If I was the medical provider charged with the care of the patient whose ECG is shown in Figure-1 — I would approach this tracing in the following sequential stag

Blog 178
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3 ways to drive awareness of women’s greatest health threat for American Heart Month

American Heart News - Heart News

DALLAS, Feb. 1, 2024 – From news desks to iconic buildings, scores of people and landmarks across the U.S. will once again “go red” on National Wear Red Day, Feb. 2, to raise awareness that cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women and support.

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Ultra-processed foods and cardiovascular disease

Nature Reviews - Cardiology

Nature Reviews Cardiology, Published online: 30 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41569-024-00990-7 In this Comment, we critically examine the association between the increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods and their negative effect on cardiovascular health. We explore the historical evolution of food processing, the Nova food classification and the epidemiological evidence, and highlight the need for urgent public health interventions.

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Some 'Choosing Wisely' Recs Protect Older Folks From Low-Value Care

Med Page Today

(MedPage Today) -- Getting clinicians to commit to the Choosing Wisely recommendations somewhat reduced low-value care for older adults in common scenarios, a cluster randomized trial found. After primary care clinicians committed in writing to.

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Analysis finds biomarkers that improve prediction accuracy of cardiovascular disease risk in people with type 2 diabetes

Medical Xpress - Cardiology

An international academic consortium has identified 13 biomarkers that significantly improve the ability to accurately predict cardiovascular disease risk in people with type 2 diabetes. The analysis, conducted by 23 experts from 11 countries, was led by The Johns Hopkins University in the United States, the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong, and Lund University in Sweden.

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Single-cell transcriptomics and chromatin accessibility profiling elucidate the kidney-protective mechanism of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists

Journal of Clinical Investigation - Cardiology

Mineralocorticoid excess commonly leads to hypertension (HTN) and kidney disease. In our study, we used single-cell expression and chromatin accessibility tools to characterize the mineralocorticoid target genes and cell types. We demonstrated that mineralocorticoid effects were established through open chromatin and target gene expression, primarily in principal and connecting tubule cells and, to a lesser extent, in segments of the distal convoluted tubule cells.

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ECG Blog #412 — Is Cardiac Cath Indicated?

Ken Grauer, MD

The ECG in Figure-1 was obtained from a middle-aged man with known hypertension — who presented to the ED ( E mergency D epartment ) for CP ( C hest P ain ) over the preceding 2-3 days. QUESTIONS: How would YOU interpret the ECG in Figure-1 ? Should you activate the cath lab? If not — What next? Figure-1: The initial ECG in today's case — obtained from a middle-aged man with CP for the past 2-3 days.

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More Trending

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Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction in post-COVID-19 syndrome: a major health-care burden

Nature Reviews - Cardiology

Nature Reviews Cardiology, Published online: 02 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41569-023-00962-3 Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction (CVAD) is a malfunction of the autonomic control of circulatory homeostasis and is an important component of post-COVID-19 syndrome. In this Review, Fedorowski and colleagues define the major forms of CVAD (including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), and discuss the aetiology, diagnosis and management of post-COVID-19 syndrome-associated CVAD.

COVID-19 145
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Ibuprofen Fails Another Crack at Reducing Preemie Lung Issues and Deaths

Med Page Today

(MedPage Today) -- Ibuprofen again failed to improve short-term outcomes when used to close patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in newborns, the placebo-controlled Baby-OSCAR trial showed. Administered parenterally a few days after infants were born.

Outcomes 139
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Researchers identify circulating proteins linked to preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

Medical Xpress - Cardiology

Preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy—which are characterized by high blood pressure with or without organ dysfunction during the second half of pregnancy—carry considerable short- and long-term risks for both the mother and child. Treatment options (other than expedited delivery) remain limited.

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MCO-010 Gene Therapy for Retinitis Pigmentosa Receives Regulatory Feedback

HCPLive

Both the FDA and EU regulators indicated visual acuity may serve as primary endpoint to evaluate MCO-010 in the treatment of low-vision retinitis pigmentosa patients.

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Why Nighttime Light Exposure is So Harmful for Cardiovascular Health

Physiologically Speaking

Our body’s physiological processes oscillate on a 24-hour cycle known as the circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythms in blood pressure and heart rate, among other functions, are crucial for cardiovascular health and preventing cardiovascular disease. Recent evidence indicates that nighttime light exposure impacts melatonin release, the autonomic nervous system, and cortisol — with potentially harmful effects on cardiovascular health.

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Childhood stress linked to higher risk of high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes in adults

American Heart News - Heart News

Research Highlights: Consistently high scores of perceived stress during adolescence through adulthood may contribute to worse cardiometabolic health including obesity in young adults. Researchers suggest the adoption of healthy coping strategies.

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Atherosclerotic plaque stabilization and regression: a review of clinical evidence

Nature Reviews - Cardiology

Nature Reviews Cardiology, Published online: 04 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41569-023-00979-8 In this Review, Sarraju and Nissen summarize the clinical trial evidence for coronary atherosclerotic plaque stabilization and regression with plasma LDL-cholesterol-lowering therapy and other treatments. Invasive and non-invasive imaging modalities used to assess plaque burden and composition are discussed.

Plaque 139
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Caution Raised for Post-TAVR Cardiac Surgeries

Med Page Today

(MedPage Today) -- SAN ANTONIO -- The early experience of patients needing cardiac surgery after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has surgeons raising the alarm about the excess risks of these challenging procedures, based on data.

TAVR 137
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New evidence informs risk factors, diagnosis and care of patients with CVT stroke

American Heart News - Stroke News

DALLAS, January 29, 2024 — A new scientific statement from the American Heart Association emphasizes the need to increase patients’ and physicians’ awareness of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) to improve the recognition of this condition and initiate.

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Plasma metabolite profile of legume consumption and future risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular Diabetology

Legume consumption has been linked to a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD), while the potential association between plasma metabolites associated with legume consumption and.

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Harnessing skin cancer genes to heal hearts

Medical Xpress - Cardiology

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated that one of the most dangerous mutations found in skin cancers might moonlight as a pathway to mending a broken heart.

Cancer 122
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Childhood relationships, experiences may have good and bad effects on adult heart health

American Heart News - Heart News

Research Highlights: Positive, warm relationships between caregiver and child were associated with higher odds of attaining ideal heart health at multiple points across a 20-year span of adulthood. Meanwhile, experiencing childhood adversity such as.

Research 133
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RNA-binding proteins in cardiovascular biology and disease: the beat goes on

Nature Reviews - Cardiology

Nature Reviews Cardiology, Published online: 02 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41569-023-00958-z In this Review, the authors discuss the latest insights on RNA-binding proteins and RNA biology and appraise them in the context of cardiovascular research, summarizing the progress in our understanding of the involvement of RNA-binding proteins in cardiac biology and disease.

Research 138
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How Cardiac Arrest Became a Household Topic After Damar Hamlin's Collapse

Med Page Today

(MedPage Today) -- In January, we reported on Damar Hamlin's collapse during a televised football game. In this report, we follow up on the resulting public interest on sudden cardiac arrest that made Hamlin the most searched person of 2023. During.

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Literature Review: Fever and ST segment elevation after syncope

ECG Weekly Workout

HPI: A young woman presents to the ED after a syncopal episode. She hit her chest after falling and has reproducible chest wall tenderness on exam. She is also noted to be febrile at triage, with reported malaise, vomiting, and unilateral back ache. The following ECG is obtained on arrival before the patient is hospitalized for pyelonephritis, chest pain, and syncope: Case ECG Before watching this week’s video.

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Physicians Who Take Vacation Time, Avoid Working on Vacation Less Likely to Suffer Burnout

HCPLive

A survey of more than 3000 US physicians is shedding light on the impact of taking vacation time and avoiding physician-related work on vacation can have on burnout and achieving professional fulfillment.

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UH Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute First in World to Implant Penditure Clip Using Minimally Invasive Approach

DAIC

milla1cf Mon, 01/08/2024 - 14:35 January 8, 2024 — University Hospitals (UH) Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute recently became the first center in the world to implant Medtronic’s Penditure Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) Exclusion System through a minimally invasive approach during a mitral valve repair procedure. This was also the first time this device and approach were used simultaneously in a human.

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Snow shoveling, cold temperatures combine for perfect storm of heart health hazards

American Heart News - Heart News

DALLAS, Jan. 11, 2024 — Weather forecasters may call it ‘white fluffy stuff,’ however, snow can be a bigger danger than many people may realize. According to the American Heart Association, celebrating its Centennial birthday as the world’s leading.

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Truncated titin is structurally integrated into the human dilated cardiomyopathic sarcomere

Journal of Clinical Investigation - Cardiology

Heterozygous (HET) truncating variant mutations in the TTN gene (TTNtvs), encoding the giant titin protein, are the most common genetic cause of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). However, the molecular mechanisms by which TTNtv mutations induce DCM are controversial. Here, we studied 127 clinically identified DCM human cardiac samples with next-generation sequencing (NGS), high-resolution gel electrophoresis, Western blot analysis, and super-resolution microscopy in order to dissect the structural a

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More Evidence Linking ADT for Prostate Cancer to Adverse Neurocognitive Effects

Med Page Today

(MedPage Today) -- Men treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer had a significantly higher risk of dementia and other neurocognitive disorders, according to a meta-analysis of more than 2.5 million patients. The magnitude.

Cancer 126
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Global Trends in Cardiovascular Diseases: Insights from the 2023 Almanac

Cardiology Update

In 2020, a collaboration involving the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) was formed to focus on CVD trends. The 2023 Almanac results derived from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) and spanning 1990 to 2022, were recently published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology.

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E-Cigarettes As Effective as Varenicline, More Effective Than Nicotine Gum in Helping to Quit Smoking

HCPLive

This new research may require additional follow up studies on potential harms, as 63% of those in this study’s electronic cigarette arm continue to use the product at 6 months.

Research 122
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Heart transplantation and biomarkers: a review about their usefulness in clinical practice

Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

Advanced heart failure (AdvHF) can only be treated definitively by heart transplantation (HTx), yet problems such right ventricle dysfunction (RVD), rejection, cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), and primary graft dysfunction (PGD) are linked to a poor prognosis. As a result, numerous biomarkers have been investigated in an effort to identify and prevent certain diseases sooner.

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Three researchers awarded $1 million each to study new heart disease treatments, causes

American Heart News - Heart News

DALLAS, Jan. 9, 2024 — A physician-scientist from Massachusetts researching whether chemicals naturally occurring in foods could help treat heart disease, a genetics expert from Pennsylvania exploring the molecular mechanisms of lipid metabolism and.

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Age-related loss of Notch3 underlies brain vascular contractility deficiencies, glymphatic dysfunction, and neurodegeneration in mice

Journal of Clinical Investigation - Cardiology

Vascular aging affects multiple organ systems, including the brain, where it can lead to vascular dementia. However, a concrete understanding of how aging specifically affects the brain vasculature, along with molecular readouts, remains vastly incomplete. Here, we demonstrate that aging is associated with a marked decline in Notch3 signaling in both murine and human brain vessels.

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Subclasses of Steatotic Liver Disease Can Help Determine Prognosis

Med Page Today

(MedPage Today) -- The new nomenclature for classifying steatotic liver disease (SLD) can help clinicians determine distinct prognoses, with the integration of alcohol intake as an aid in risk stratification, according to an analysis of a prospective.

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Ultromics Announces Partnership to Expedite Development of Echo AI Algorithm for Early Detection of Cardiac Amyloidosis

DAIC

Image courtesy of Ultromics milla1cf Mon, 01/15/2024 - 12:54 January 15, 2024 — Ultromics , a patient outcomes-focused AI-driven health technology company with roots at the University of Oxford, UK, has entered into an agreement with Pfizer to support the validation and FDA clearance of its AI-based technology for the detection of cardiac amyloidosis.

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Short Sleepers with Pre-Existing Medical Conditions at Higher Risk of Long COVID

HCPLive

A new study found the risk of Long COVID for short sleepers with pre-existing medical conditions was 3-fold higher than average-length sleepers without pre-existing conditions.

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Decoding the Menace Within: Unraveling Myocardial Bridges and Exercise-Induced Ischemia

Cardiology Update

The perplexing landscape of angina with nonobstructive coronary arteries (ANOCA) encompasses diverse pathophysiological entities, including coronary microvascular disease (CMD), coronary artery spasm, and the enigmatic myocardial bridging (MB). Traditionally deemed benign, MBs, marked by the intramyocardial passage of an epicardial artery, are increasingly implicated in chronic angina and acute ischemic events.

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U.S. heart disease deaths linked with substance use rose 4% per year between 1999-2019

American Heart News - Heart News

Research Highlights: Despite drops in overall cardiovascular disease deaths from 1999-2019, cardiovascular disease deaths in which substance use was cited as a contributing factor increased an average of 4% per year, with the death rate accelerating.