Heart Defect News and Research

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Cardiac team implants pulmonary valve in children without open-heart surgery

The pediatric cardiac team at Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital is the first in the region and one of a handful in the nation to implant a pulmonary heart valve without open-heart surgery.

4 Feb 2011

New replacement valve can help patients to avoid multiple open-heart surgeries

Congenital heart defects are the most common type of major birth defects in the U.S., affecting about 34,000 babies each year. Twenty percent of these patients are born with a malformation of the pulmonary valve, which is a flap-like opening on the right side of the heart that is responsible for regulating the blood flow to the lungs. Now, a new replacement valve being used at Rush University Medical Center can help patients with damaged heart valves delay or avoid multiple open-heart surgeries.

3 Feb 2011

Cardiac stem cell therapy can rebuild damaged heart in children

Visionaries in the field of cardiac therapeutics have long looked to the future when a damaged heart could be rebuilt or repaired by using one's own heart cells. A study published in the February issue of Circulation, a scientific journal of the American Heart Association, shows that heart stem cells from children with congenital heart disease were able to rebuild the damaged heart in the laboratory.

27 Jan 2011

Cell binding mechanism can lead to new treatments for skin diseases, lethal heart defects

A University of Manchester scientist has revealed the mechanism that binds skin cells tightly together, which he believes will lead to new treatments for painful and debilitating skin diseases and also lethal heart defects.

From The University of Manchester 21 Jan 2011

Screening for CCDC40 gene mutations may help determine risk for congenital heart defects

A gene that can cause congenital heart defects has been identified by a team of scientists, including a group from Princeton University. The discovery could lead to new treatments for those affected by the conditions brought on by the birth defect.

7 Dec 2010

U.S mortality rate from congenital heart defects drops 24%: Report

The U.S. death rate from congenital heart defects dropped 24 percent from 1999 to 2006 among children and adults, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

23 Nov 2010

St. Jude Medical completes acquisition of AGA Medical

St. Jude Medical, Inc. today announced that it has successfully completed its acquisition of AGA Medical Holdings, Inc.

19 Nov 2010

Children with severe congenital heart defects show high risk of emotional reactivity

Research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) shows that children with severe congenital heart defects have twice the risk of anxiety at 18 months of age compared to healthy children. Children with mild and moderate heart defects, on the other hand, did not show an increased risk of anxiety.

18 Nov 2010

Children's heart disease affects mental health of mothers

Mothers of children with severe heart disease are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression than mothers of healthy children, even once any medical interventions are over.

18 Nov 2010

Obese children with congenital heart disease face risk of heart disease as adults

Children with congenital heart disease are more overweight than similar children a generation ago, raising their risk of heart attack and heart disease as adults, according to a new study.

15 Nov 2010

OMJPI enters agreement with Watson to distribute generic version of CONCERTA tablets

Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced it has entered into a supply and distribution agreement with Watson Laboratories, Inc. to distribute an authorized generic version of CONCERTA (methylphenidate HCl extended-release tablets).

3 Nov 2010

Two-thirds of fetuses with HLHS have strong chance of survival

When prenatal diagnosis detects the severe heart defect hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) in a fetus, a comprehensive prenatal evaluation is important to provide parents an accurate prognosis. In HLHS, one of the heart's pumping chambers is severely underdeveloped. However, say researchers, in two-thirds of cases, reconstructive surgery affords the infant an excellent chance of early survival.

27 Oct 2010

St. Jude Medical to acquire AGA Medical

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, and AGA Medical Holdings, Inc., today announced that the Boards of Directors of both companies have approved a definitive agreement under which St. Jude Medical will acquire all of the outstanding shares of AGA Medical for $20.80 per share in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $1.3 billion, including the assumption of approximately $225 million in outstanding debt.

18 Oct 2010

Cedars-Sinai physicians to lead St. Jude Medical's transcatheter aortic valve implantation clinical trial

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced that physicians from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute will lead the company's transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) clinical trial. The study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the St. Jude Medical transcatheter aortic valve for patients who experience severe aortic stenosis and who may be at an elevated risk for open-heart surgery.

29 Sep 2010

PFO repair may increase odds of postoperative stroke, shows no clear benefit: Study

Patients who have a heart defect known as patent foramen ovale incidentally discovered and repaired during surgery for a different condition may have an increased odds of postoperative stroke, along with no clear benefit on short-term outcomes or long-term survival, according to a study in the July 15 issue of JAMA.

27 Sep 2010

Study finds certain MRI sequences as accurate methods of assessing stent stenosis

Researchers have found that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be sufficient for the routine surveillance of some great vessel (primary blood vessels [e.g., aorta and vena cavae]) stents that are commonly used to treat congenital heart defects (a defect in the structure of the heart and great vessels that is present at birth) in children and young adults, according to a study in the October issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (www.ajronline.org). MRI is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions.

22 Sep 2010

Newborn Coalition praises SACHDNC's Critical Congenital Heart Disease universal screening recommendation

In a historic vote on September 17, 2010, the Secretary's Advisory Committee for Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (SACHDNC) unanimously agreed to recommend the addition of screening for Critical Cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease to the core panel for universal screening of all newborns in the United States.

22 Sep 2010

Overprotection during childhood leads to heart-focused anxiety in adults with congenital heart disease: Study

Adults with congenital heart disease are more likely to suffer heart-focused anxiety - a fear of heart-related symptoms and sensations - if their parents were overprotective during their childhood and adolescence. Dr. Lephuong Ong from Orion Health Services in Vancouver, and colleagues from University Health Network and York University in Toronto, Canada, suggest that health care professionals could encourage greater independence for adolescents and adults with congenital heart disease to improve their psychosocial adjustment. Dr. Ong's work1 is published online in Springer's International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

16 Sep 2010

New insight into most common form of congenital heart disease

Repairing small, seemingly benign holes in a child's heart may be more clinically important than previously thought, as dysfunction could be lurking out of sight. These are the findings from a study conducted by doctors and researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Ohio State University Medical Center examining a subset of the most common form of congenital heart disease, ventricular septal defect.

14 Sep 2010

Texas Children's Hospital implants FDA approved transcatheter pulmonary heart valve

Using a newly FDA approved pulmonary valve, Dr. Frank Ing, director of the catheterization laboratory at Texas Children's Hospital and his team of pediatric interventional cardiologists implanted a transcatheter pulmonary heart valve into the heart of a 13-year-old girl, which spared her from having her chest opened for a third heart surgery.

9 Sep 2010