Sudden Cardiac Death News and Research

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The term sudden cardiac death refers to natural death from cardiac causes, heralded by abrupt loss of consciousness within one hour of the onset of acute symptoms.

New technology to help heart and lung patients awaiting transplants

Promising new technology may extend the life of a failing organ for patients suffering from heart or lung disease while they wait for a donor organ. The use of stem cells may eliminate the need for a transplant and even eradicate heart disease in patients.

6 Apr 2005

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can successfully identify the characteristics of coronary plaques

A catheter-based imaging technology called optical coherence tomography (OCT) can successfully identify the characteristics of coronary plaques in patients with various cardiac symptoms. The report from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) will appear in the journal Circulation.

29 Mar 2005

Vioxx could have caused 140000 excess cases of coronary heart disease in the USA since 1999

The arthritis drug Vioxx could have caused an estimated 88 000–140 000 excess cases of serious coronary heart disease in the USA since its launch in 1999, concludes a study published online by The Lancet.

24 Jan 2005

May soon be possible to identify people at risk and even to treat a heart problem with a drug that works on the brain

Sudden cardiac death from emotional stress may be triggered by uneven signals from the brain to the heart, according to a study by University College London (UCL) scientists published in the January issue of Brain.

23 Dec 2004

Biological clock affects the patterns of heart-rate control in healthy individuals

In a newly reported, first-ever finding, physicists from Boston University and physiologists from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have found that the body’s biological clock affects the patterns of heart-rate control in healthy individuals independent of sleep/wake cycle or other behavior influences.

21 Dec 2004

New insight into anticoagulation therapies

Anticoagulation therapies, or treatments that reduce the amount of clotting factors in the blood, are quite common and used for a variety of reasons.

6 Dec 2004

Women who have diets rich in oils containing alpha-linolenic appear to have a lower risk of dying from heart disease

Women who reported eating diets rich in oils containing alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) seemed to have a lower risk of dying from heart disease and sudden cardiac death than women whose diets are low in the plant-derived fatty acid, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2004.

9 Nov 2004

Doctors must choose and manage implanted cardiac defibrillators patients carefully

Implanted devices that can shock a failing heart back into regular rhythm do an excellent job of keeping patients alive, two new University of Michigan studies find.

8 Nov 2004

Mild pulses of electrical energy just as effective as more powerful and painful shocks to interrupt life-threatening rapid heartbeats

Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a fast heartbeat originating in the heart’s ventricle chamber and can be life-threatening. VT is often treated with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), a device that delivers an electrical shock to restore an irregular heart rhythm.

22 Oct 2004

Study links possible role of ephedrine in sudden cardiac arrests

Each year 80,000 - 100,000 people in the U.S die suddenly from heart attacks without ever having had any symptoms of heart disease. In some cases, the victims of these unheralded sudden cardiac deaths had been taking dietary supplements containing ephedrine.

16 Oct 2004

Research continues to show the cardiovascular benefits of fish consumption or omega-3 fatty acids

USA-Peer-reviewed research continues to show the cardiovascular benefits of fish consumption or intake of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFAs).

5 Oct 2004

Sibling history is a better predictor of coronary heart disease than parental history or traditional risk factor scoring

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that sibling history -- whether or not a brother or sister had early heart disease -- is a better predictor of a person's likelihood of developing coronary heart disease than parental history or traditional risk factor scoring.

4 Oct 2004

Draft Medicare plan to cover implantable defibrillators

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today proposed to expand coverage of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), a move expected to save thousands of lives a year.

29 Sep 2004

Estimates may overstate toll of sudden cardiac death

Researchers trying to get a precise picture of sudden cardiac death in Portland, Ore. found that checking with ambulance services, medical examiners and hospitals revealed the actual number of cases was only about one-third the total estimated by a commonly used method that involves reviews of death certificates, according to a new study in the Sept. 15, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

14 Sep 2004

Therapeutic hypothermia improves the chances of recovery among those who suffer from cardiac arrest

Lowering the body’s temperature after a cardiac arrest dramatically increases the chances for surviving and improves the neurological outcome.

10 Sep 2004

Ramipril reduces rate of sudden cardiac death and nonfatal cardiac arrest by 21 percent

Ramipril, a high blood pressure and heart failure drug, can reduce the rate of sudden cardiac death and nonfatal cardiac arrest by 21 percent in people at high risk for heart attack or stroke, according to a study reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

7 Sep 2004

Embryonic stem cell therapy show benefits in rebuilding damaged heart

Despite improvements in earlier diagnosis and treatment, cardiovascular disease is far and away the leading cause of death in the U.S. and the world.

18 Aug 2004

New guidelines urge early and long-term treatment with Aldosterone blockade therapy

Patients who have had a recent heart attack with ST-elevation (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, or STEMI), complicated by heart failure should be treated with aldosterone blockers according to new guidelines issued recently by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA).

17 Aug 2004

Pacemakers and defibrillators can be safe for use in magnetic resonance imaging machines

In animal and laboratory studies, scientists at Johns Hopkins have shown that modern, implanted heart assist devices - such as pacemakers and defibrillators - can be safe for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines

3 Aug 2004

First successful gene therapy that mimics the action of calcium channel blockers

Their findings - published in the latest edition of Circulation Research, online July 8 - may lead to a gene therapy alternative to calcium channel blockers and their sometimes severe side effects, but also further interest in the development of gene therapies unique - as in this case - to one particular organ.

10 Jul 2004