Chest Pain News and Research

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Lowering door-to-balloon times helps benefit STEMI patients, study finds

While all heart attacks have the potential to be deadly, one type is referred to as the "widow maker" because of its high risk of death. A ST segment elevation myocardial infarction is a severe type of heart attack that occurs when a blockage in a coronary artery causes heart muscle to die; without prompt treatment risk of fatality increases dramatically. Coronary angioplasty, or percutaneous coronary intervention, is the most common emergency treatment for STEMI.

30 Apr 2013

Fixed-dose combination of drugs effectively lowers IOP

A fixed-dose combination of brinzolamide and brimonidine is more effective than either drug given alone for lowering intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension, results of a phase III trial indicate.

25 Apr 2013

Study: Patients who suffer STEMI heart attacks while hospitalized are 10 times more likely to die

If you suffer a heart attack while walking down the street and are taken to the hospital quickly, your chances of survival are very good. But if you have a heart attack while already in the hospital for something else, you are 10 times more likely to die.

18 Apr 2013

ACP unveils tools to improve health outcomes in patients following ACS event

The American College of Physicians today unveiled two evidence-based interventions and two videos to improve the health outcomes of patients in the first year following an initial acute coronary syndrome event such as heart attack and unstable angina (chest pain or discomfort but no part of the heart muscle dies), the most common indications of ACS.

15 Apr 2013

Study examines overuse of ER for nonemergency visits

Visits to the ER are not always for true medical emergencies - and some policymakers have been fighting the problem by denying or limiting payments if the patient's diagnosis upon discharge is for "nonemergency" conditions.

21 Mar 2013

Pregnancy-associated plasma protein A predicts cardiovascular events: Study

Higher levels of pregnancy-associated plasma protein A were associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events in people with cardiac chest pain that developed as a result of heart disease/coronary artery disease, according to a study published in CMAJ.

19 Mar 2013

Trial evaluates ranolazine in patients with diabetes, coronary artery disease and angina

A commonly used anti-anginal drug reduces chest pain in patients with type 2 diabetes and appears to have a more pronounced effect in those with poorer glucose control, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session.

13 Mar 2013

New bedside electronic device can determine the cause of severe dizziness

A bedside electronic device that measures eye movements can successfully determine whether the cause of severe, continuous, disabling dizziness is a stroke or something benign, according to results of a small study led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers.

6 Mar 2013

States continue to formulate Medicaid expansion strategies

As the Obama administration gives some states the OK to pursue alternatives to the health law's Medicaid expansion, the shape of the debate in state legislatures changes.

5 Mar 2013

LINX device may help relieve chronic heartburn symptoms

Clinical trial results published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week offer additional evidence that a new device may help relieve chronic heartburn symptoms that standard treatment cannot. The Keck Medical Center of USC was one of 14 U.S. and European medical centers to test the device prior to its March 2012 approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

26 Feb 2013

CT angiography uncovers cardiovascular disease risk

Computed tomography angiography can warn of the likelihood for major adverse cardiovascular events in patients suspected of having coronary artery disease in the absence of medically modifiable risk factors, research shows.

25 Feb 2013

Symptom severity, hospice patient distress not necessarily linked

End-stage heart failure patients being treated in hospices have multiple symptoms with potential to cause distress, indicate US study findings.

20 Feb 2013

Coronary computed tomography angiography effectively determines risk of heart attacks

Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is an effective tool for determining the risk of heart attacks and other adverse cardiac events in patients with suspected coronary artery disease but no treatable risk factors, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

19 Feb 2013

Elemental diet may help adults with eosinophilic esophagitis

Results from a small study suggest that consumption of an elemental diet for 2–4 weeks results in a significant histologic improvement in adult patients with eosinophilic esophagitis.

14 Feb 2013

Study identifies 12 important postoperative complication signs in colorectal surgical patients

Colorectal surgical patients are often discharged from the hospital with vague guidance on how to recognize complications, but researchers at the Michael DeBakey Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, aim to change that scenario.

11 Feb 2013

LPA genetic variant increases risk of heart valve calcification

Researchers have found a genetic variant that doubles the likelihood that people will have calcium deposits on their aortic valve. Such calcification, if it becomes severe, can cause narrowing or a blockage of the aortic valve, a condition called aortic stenosis.

9 Feb 2013

Patients with preinfarction angina have smaller heart attacks, improved cardiac function

Patients who experience chest pain in the 24 hours preceding a heart attack, also called preinfarction angina, have smaller heart attacks and improved cardiac function in the contemporary cardiac stenting era, researchers found in a study published Jan. 22 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.

5 Feb 2013

Women still underestimate the seriousness of heart disease

Although heart disease remains the No. 1 killer nationally for women-—responsible for one out of every three deaths—-many of today's women still underestimate the seriousness of the disease and their risks, says Liliana Cohen, MD, a board-certified cardiologist with The Robert Wood Johnson Medical Group.

4 Feb 2013

New CT system reduces radiation exposure in patients undergoing CCTA

Researchers using a newly approved advanced computed tomography (CT) system were able to significantly reduce radiation exposure in patients undergoing coronary CT angiography (CCTA), according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

1 Feb 2013

Family history one of the strongest predictors of heart disease

Sherron Simmons lived her life as the picture of good health: she exercised regularly, ate healthy and did not smoke. That is why it was a shock for her to learn in 2007 that the main left artery to her heart was 90 percent blocked.

1 Feb 2013