Heart Surgery News and Research

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Heart surgery is done to correct problems with the heart. More than half a million heart surgeries are done each year in the United States for a variety of heart problems. Heart surgery is used to correct heart problems in children and adults. This article discusses heart surgeries for adults. For more information about heart surgeries for children, see the Diseases and Conditions Index articles on congenital heart defects, holes in the heart, and tetralogy of Fallot.

The most common type of heart surgery for adults is coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). During CABG, surgeons use healthy arteries or veins taken from another part of the body to bypass (that is, go around) blocked arteries. CABG relieves chest pain and reduces the risk of heart attack.

Pregabalin drug can help reduce incidence of chronic pain following cardiac surgery

The incidence of chronic pain following cardiac surgery can be reduced in patients when the drug pregabalin is used before surgery and for 14 days post-surgery, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2013 annual meeting.

14 Oct 2013

Patient with certain gene variation more likely to suffer cognitive decline five years after surgery

Long-term memory loss, difficulty understanding verbal or written communication or impaired ability to pay attention may still occur five years after heart surgery if a patient has a certain gene variation, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2013 annual meeting.

14 Oct 2013

Canadian discovery could lead to development of vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus

Development of a vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus has taken a step forward with the Canadian discovery of how EBV infection evades detection by the immune system.

12 Oct 2013

Bluhm Institute enrolls first patient in SALUS trial to evaluate movable, non-metallic heart valve

Northwestern's Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute has enrolled its first participant in SALUS, a clinical trial studying the effectiveness of a prosthetic aortic heart valve that can be placed without open-heart surgery.

10 Oct 2013

Preoperative statin therapy improves results for isolated CABG and AVR operations

Patients receiving statin therapy before coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery appear to have a reduced risk of post-surgical mortality, stroke, and atrial fibrillation (irregular or rapid heart rate), according to an article in the October 2013 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

1 Oct 2013

FDA approves revised labeling for Sapien Transcatheter Heart Valve

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved revised labeling for the Sapien Transcatheter Heart Valve, making the device available to an expanded group of patients who have inoperable aortic valve stenosis, a disease of the heart valves that causes narrowing of the aortic valve, restricting blood flow from the heart.

24 Sep 2013

C.S. Mott Children's Hospital kicks off Block Out Cancer campaign

C.S. Mott Children's Hospital kicked off a new campaign today to "Block Out Cancer" with a month of promotions designed to increase awareness of the need for research into pediatric cancer.

11 Sep 2013

Underweight women with CAD should gain weight to reduce risk of death

Being underweight increases the death risk of women with coronary artery disease (CAD) by 2-fold, according to research presented at the ESC Congress today by Dr Aziza Azimi from Denmark. The study suggests that underweight women with CAD should gain weight to reduce their risk of death.

5 Sep 2013

Women are 25% less likely to die post TAVI than men, says doctor

Dr Sherif said: "Earlier studies on the impact of gender on outcome after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) have had conflicting results. A Canadian study reported in 641 consecutive patients that female sex is associated with a better long-term and short-term survival after TAVI.1 An Italian study of 305 high risk patients found no gender differences in composite safety and efficacy endpoints at 30 days and one year after TAVI."2

2 Sep 2013

New angle for developing drugs to prevent thrombosis and heart attack

Platelets, which allow blood to clot, are at the heart of numerous cardiovascular problems, including heart attacks and stroke. New research has uncovered a key platelet protein that could offer a new angle for developing drugs to prevent thrombosis, or dangerous blood clots, in patients who are at high risk such as those with atherosclerosis or a history of heart problems.

31 Aug 2013

Wireless technology speeds patients’ postoperative recovery after heart surgery

Using wireless technology may speed patients' postoperative recovery following heart surgery and improve post-discharge outcomes, according to a study in the September 2013 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

29 Aug 2013

Children with high BPA levels have higher odds of obesity and abnormal waist circumference

Children who have higher levels of Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical previously used in many products for kids, like baby bottle and plastic toys, had a higher odds of obesity and adverse levels of body fat, according to a new study from University of Michigan researchers.

20 Aug 2013

Inflating blood pressure cuff ahead of heart bypass surgery reduces heart injury

Inflating a blood pressure cuff on the upper arm just ahead of heart bypass surgery reduces heart injury and might even improve bypass patients’ long-term survival, according to an Article published in The Lancet.

16 Aug 2013

Publication of death rates: an interview with Dr Kate Walker, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The death rates of individual heart surgeons have been published in England and several US states for some years. A high profile investigation into high death rates at a certain cardiac centre motivated this in England. For other surgery types, death rates have been reported only at the hospital or trust level. NHS England’s “Everyone Counts” policy, introduced this Summer, means that outcomes of ten types of surgery will be reported at the individual surgeon level.

15 Aug 2013

Doctors create new route to implant artificial heart valve

Doctors at Henry Ford Hospital have created a new route to the heart to implant an artificial heart valve by temporarily connecting major blood vessels that do not normally intersect.

14 Aug 2013

BioVentrix uses Revivent system for LIVE procedure in Germany

BioVentrix, a pioneer of technologies and procedures for the less-invasive treatment of heart failure (HF), today announced the successful first-use of its Revivent™ Myocardial Anchoring System, via Less Invasive Ventricular Enhancement™ or the LIVE™ procedure in Germany.

13 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Obama overlooking legal constraints on employer mandate delay; Bush's 'unnecessary' heart procedure; discrimination against people with mental illnesses

In his Friday remarks, Mr. Obama also claimed that he had the "executive authority" for the mandate delay. But if he really believes that, then why did he say he would normally ask for a legislative "tweak." Either the fix requires legislation or it doesn't. His comments are certainly revealing about his attitudes on Presidential power and the constraints of the U.S. Constitution. Article II, Section 3 instructs him to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, not merely what he thinks is "the essence" of laws (8/10).

13 Aug 2013

Studies show that hTEE technology changes patient management in critical care

ImaCor Inc., the developer of the world's only hemodynamic transesophageal echocardiography technology, announced that multiple recent studies have shown that hTEE significantly changes patient management in critical care.

6 Aug 2013

Many women die due to Cad, yet less likely to receive preventive recommendations

Despite coronary artery disease (CAD) killing at least as many women as men each year, women are still today less likely to receive preventive recommendations, such as lipid-lowering therapy, aspirin, and lifestyle advice, than are men at a similar risk level.

29 Jul 2013

Study leads to new approach for treatment of aortic valve stenosis

A study conducted by the team of Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif, Director of the Research Centre at the Montreal Heart Institute, has led to the discovery of a new approach to treat aortic valve stenosis through the administration of a compound that prevents valve deterioration and can even reverse the progression of the disease.

19 Jul 2013