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.

Aastrom submits SPA for Phase 3 clinical development program in critical limb ischemia to FDA

Aastrom Biosciences, Inc., a leading developer of expanded autologous cellular therapies for the treatment of severe cardiovascular diseases, today announced that it has submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a special protocol assessment (SPA) describing the company's proposed Phase 3 clinical development program in critical limb ischemia (CLI).

21 Oct 2010

Beaumont Hospital announces opening of new Ernst Cardiovascular Center

Beaumont Hospitals' world renowned heart center has expanded and enhanced its services with the Oct. 18 opening of the new Ernst Cardiovascular Center at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.

21 Oct 2010

FDA grants fast track designation for Aastrom's CLI cell therapy development program

Aastrom Biosciences, Inc., a leading developer of expanded autologous cellular therapies for the treatment of severe cardiovascular diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation for the company's critical limb ischemia (CLI) cell therapy development program. Aastrom plans to initiate Phase 3 clinical testing of its treatment for CLI in early 2011.

18 Oct 2010

SynCardia Total Artificial Heart provides 'unexpected' 1,000 days of life

A 54-year-old Italian man has become the first patient to surpass 1,000 days of support with the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart while waiting for a matching donor heart.

12 Oct 2010

Survey shows obstetricians, gynecologists unfamiliar with Chagas' disease

According to recent survey results published in the October issue of The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, obstetricians and gynecologists in the United States are unfamiliar with Chagas' disease, a condition that affects an estimated 300,000 people in the United States and can cause serious cardiovascular and digestive complications.

8 Oct 2010

ARCA receives European Patent for bucindolol based treatment for heart failure

ARCA biopharma, Inc. a biopharmaceutical company developing genetically-targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, today announced that the European Patent Office has issued a patent on methods of treating heart failure patients with bucindolol based on genetic targeting.

8 Oct 2010

UCLA-led consortium receives $9.9M to compare wireless and telephone management after hospitalizations

A UCLA-led consortium of five University of California medical schools, plus Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, has received $9.9 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to research the use of wireless and telephone care management to reduce hospital readmissions for heart failure patients.

6 Oct 2010

Healthcare organizations urge Congress to raise awareness on sudden cardiac arrest

In a powerful demonstration of collective standing in the health care community, more than 40 organizations gathered on Capitol Hill to issue a call to action in reducing sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) deaths.

6 Oct 2010

Merck's boceprevir Phase III studies for HCV to be presented at 61st AASLD

Merck today announced that final results from two pivotal Phase III studies of boceprevir, its investigational oral hepatitis C protease inhibitor, will be presented in oral plenary sessions at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), which is taking place from Oct. 29 through Nov. 2 in Boston. Results for boceprevir in response-guided therapy strategies, which evaluated treatment durations shorter than current standard therapy, will be presented during the meeting.

4 Oct 2010

Mandatory ECG screening for athletes

Should athletes have to undergo mandatory electrocardiographic screening (also known as ECG or heart trace) before competing? Doctors debate the issue in this week's BMJ.

4 Oct 2010

Study indicates garlic could help prevent cardiomyopathy

Garlic has significant potential for preventing cardiomyopathy, a form of heart disease that is a leading cause of death in people with diabetes, scientists have concluded in a new study. Their report, which also explains why people with diabetes are at high risk for diabetic cardiomyopathy, appears in ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

30 Sep 2010

Impact of cancer treatment on cardiovascular function

For the past two decades, cancer therapy has become more sophisticated and effective, resulting in an ever-expanding group of long-term cancer survivors. There is also a growing awareness of the potentially negative effects of cancer treatment on the heart and the management of cardiac disease during and after cancer therapy.

22 Sep 2010

Recommendations for developing novel therapies for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

16 Sep 2010

Researchers recommend mechanism to identify hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

An abrupt, fatal heart attack in a young athlete on the playing field is a tragedy destined to repeat itself over and over until more is understood about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a genetic disorder that is the most common cause of sudden death in young people but which affects people of all ages. So says a task force of cardiologists and cardiac biologists, headed by Thomas L. Force, M.D., James C. Wilson Professor of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, in the September 14th online edition of the journal Circulation.

15 Sep 2010

Researchers identify risk gene for schizophrenia

An international team of researchers has identified a risk gene for schizophrenia, including a potentially causative mutation, using genome-wide association data-mining techniques and independent replications.

15 Sep 2010

Study shows Americans with muscular dystrophy live longer than African-Americans

A new study shows that white men and boys are living longer with muscular dystrophy due to technological advances in recent years, but that the lives of African-American men and boys with muscular dystrophy have not been extended at the same rate. The research will be published in the September 14, 2010, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

14 Sep 2010

Cardiogenesis Corporation releases comment on STAR-heart study

Cardiogenesis Corporation, released comments today regarding the STAR-heart study.The STAR-heart study, which was presented at the European Society of Cardiology 2010 Congress in August 2010, reported that the intracoronary injection of autologous stem cells derived from bone marrow is associated with improved hemodynamics and long term survival in the treatment of chronic heart failure.

3 Sep 2010

Pfizer enters agreement to acquire FoldRx Pharmaceuticals

Pfizer Inc. and FoldRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held drug discovery and clinical development company, today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Pfizer will acquire FoldRx.

2 Sep 2010

ECG-based screening for young footballers at risk of heart disease needs to be reviewed: Study

The screening process for young footballers at risk of heart disease needs to be re-evaluated. That is the conclusion of a recent study, which has shown that the common criteria used for assessment does not take into account the type and intensity of the exercise performed. The single most common cause of sudden death in competitive footballers is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - a disease that thickens the heart muscle without any obvious cause.

31 Aug 2010

International Symposium to explore Hybrid approach for congenital heart disease

Interventional cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons throughout the United States and the world, who treat patients with congenital heart disease, will gather at the Hilton Columbus at Easton Town Center August 31-September 2, 2010 for the International Symposium on the Hybrid Approach to Congenital Heart Disease (ISHAC).

31 Aug 2010