Cardiomyopathy News and Research

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Cardiomyopathy is a group of diseases with primary, usually diffuse, involvement of the myocardium. The myocardial disease is not secondary to ischaemic, valvular, congenital or pericardial disease.

Genetic mutation linked to peripartum cardiomyopathy during pregnancy

Researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City have identified the first genetic mutation ever associated with a mysterious and potentially devastating form of heart disease that affects women in the final weeks of pregnancy or the first few months after delivery.

22 Jun 2011

Key heart failure therapies could prevent nearly 68,000 deaths each year

A national study has found that nearly 68,000 deaths potentially could be prevented each year by optimally implementing key national guideline-recommended therapies, including critical medications and cardiac devices, for all eligible heart failure patients.

7 Jun 2011

Isis receives $5M milestone payment from GSK for initiating ISIS-TTRRx Phase 1 study

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has earned a $5 million milestone payment from GlaxoSmithKline related to the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical study for ISIS-TTRRx.

19 May 2011

First fetoscopic laser procedure to correct Twin-Twin Transfusion syndrome performed in Dallas

Jessica and Chad Browning were ecstatic last fall when they learned they were expecting twins. They had two children already, but wanted a third to round out their family. Twins were a bonus.

16 May 2011

$Study: Only 15% of heart failure patients with spinal fractures are being treated for osteoporosis$

Study: Only 15% of heart failure patients with spinal fractures are being treated for osteoporosis

One in 10 heart failure patients had compression fractures in the spine that could have been detected by a chest X-ray, but few are receiving treatment to help prevent such fractures according to a Canadian study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Heart Failure.

11 May 2011

NYU Langone researchers present recent findings at The Heart Rhythm Society 32nd annual sessions

Cardiologists from the Cardiac & Vascular Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center presented new research at The Heart Rhythm Society's 32nd Annual Scientific Sessions, May 4 -7 in San Francisco, California.

9 May 2011

New cardiac genetic testing guidelines for health care professionals

An international panel of experts from The Heart Rhythm Society and the European Heart Rhythm Association issued new guideline recommendations for all health care professionals about cardiovascular genetic testing at the Heart Rhythm Society's 32nd Annual Scientific Sessions.

7 May 2011

Cardiac Dimensions initiates two CARILLON device trials in Functional Mitral Regurgitation

Cardiac Dimensions, Inc. announced today the initiation of two new clinical studies using the CARILLON Mitral Contour System, an investigational device for percutaneous treatment of Functional Mitral Regurgitation.

4 May 2011

Free CME course on cardiovascular disease to be held in Phoenix, Arizona

A Continuing Medical Education workshop, "Beating Cardiovascular Disease: Understanding the meaning and value of key risk factors, will be hosted in Phoenix, Arizona on May 14, 2011 by Dr. Sam Fillingane.

25 Apr 2011

Study shows neutralizing antibodies to C5a protein may prevent heart failure

New research published online in The FASEB Journal details research in rats and mice that offers hope for stopping the devastating, and often fatal, effects of sepsis in humans. In the study, University of Michigan researchers show how neutralizing the effects of a key protein fragment, called C5a, used by the immune system to attract white blood cells may ultimately prevent heart failure.

12 Apr 2011

Louisville Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine earns APS' Walter B. Cannon Award

Heart failure affects roughly six million Americans, yet treatment consists of either a heart transplant or the insertion of mechanical devices that assist the heart. This is unacceptable to Roberto Bolli, MD, Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky., which is why he is on a mission to make cardiac stem cell treatment an option for all who must cope with the limitations of a failing heart.

11 Apr 2011

ICD therapy can improve ischemic cardiomyopathy survival rates

Most patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy who have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator now live more than seven years and those ICD patients with hereditary heart disease can live for decades, based on a scientific paper that will be presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, April 1-3.

6 Apr 2011

Adherence to guideline-related therapies can reduce heart failure patients' mortality rate

A UCLA-led study has found that adherence to national guideline-recommended therapies for heart failure in an outpatient practice setting significantly lowered the mortality rate of heart failure patients.

5 Apr 2011

Therapeutic hypothermia is an effective treatment for young adult patients with HCM

Young adult patients with genetic heart diseases, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, substantially benefitted from therapeutic hypothermia, which could further extend the role for this treatment strategy in new patient populations, according to a scientific presentation at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, April 1-3.

4 Apr 2011

Merck's VICTRELIS phase III study results against HCV presented at EASL annual meeting

Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, announced results from several new data analyses from the pivotal Phase III studies evaluating the addition of its investigational oral protease inhibitor VICTRELIS to peginterferon alfa-2b and ribavirin in adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection.

1 Apr 2011

FDA approves Medtronic's Protecta implantable defibrillators

Medtronic, Inc. today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the Protecta portfolio of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillators.

29 Mar 2011

Stem cell therapy successfully heals a scarred and failing heart

A new study has shown that stem cells could heal scars caused by old heart attacks. In all eight patients who received the experimental treatment in an ongoing clinical trial this therapy worked. All of them had suffered heart attacks an average of 5 1/2 years prior; one of the patients had his heart attack 11 years earlier.

17 Mar 2011

Merck to present VICTRELIS phase III study data against HCV at EASL annual meeting

Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, announced that several new data analyses from Phase III studies of VICTRELIS, its investigational oral hepatitis C protease inhibitor, will be presented at The International Liver CongressTM / 46th European Association for the Study of the Liver annual meeting.

9 Mar 2011

Experts to discuss cause of sudden death on athletic playing fields

While the cause of death of the Fennville, Mich. high school basketball player is unknown, an inherited heart condition makes the top of the list for possible causes.

5 Mar 2011

High blood pressure medications useful even in those without hypertension: Study

Researchers have studied existing evidence to suggest that people who have had a stroke or a heart attack might benefit from taking blood pressure medications, even if they do not have high blood. They noted that for every 1,000 people taking the drugs in clinical trials, on average 15 fewer died from heart disease than when the patients got dummy treatment. The study however could not explain the cause for this benefit. The study, which was funded by Tulane University and the National Institutes of Health, was published in the March 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

1 Mar 2011