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.

Terminally ill teenager wins the right to die with dignity

A British teenager who is terminally ill has won the right to refuse treatment and forced a hospital to drop its High Court case.

11 Nov 2008

New technique in blood analysis may speed diagnosis of heart attacks

Someday doctors may be able to use a blood test to confirm within minutes, instead of hours, if a patient is having a heart attack, allowing more rapid treatment that could limit damage to heart muscle.

9 Sep 2008

Positive exercise testing in athletes: What does that mean?

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) during sports activity is an uncommon, but catastrophic event. Different efforts to reduce the risk of SCD related to sports have been undertaken. What is the role of the exercise test in this context? What does a positive exercise test mean?

31 Aug 2008

Should we use echocardiography to screen young athletes?

Sudden and unexpected deaths in young competitive athletes are uncommon but highly visible events, which raise concern and ethical issues in both the lay public and medical community. Which is the best strategy to timely identify individuals with cardiac disease responsible for sudden death (primarily, HCM) is largely debated. Namely, the extent to which sophisticated testing, such as echocardiography, is needed is still undefined.

31 Aug 2008

Sports-related sudden cardiac death is reduced by pre-participation cardiovascular screening

Young competitive athletes are perceived by the general population to be the healthiest members of society. The possibility that highly trained athletes may have a potentially serious cardiac condition that can predispose to life-threatening tachyarrhythmias or sudden cardiac death seems paradoxical.

31 Aug 2008

Alcohol consumption declining in U.S., according to new study

Overall alcohol use-particularly consumption of beer-is declining in the US, according to a new study published in the August 2008 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

6 Aug 2008

Elastic mesh device that cradles heart may impede cardiomyopathy

Cardiac specialists at the University of Rochester Medical Center are studying an investigational device that wraps around the enlarged hearts of heart failure patients in an effort to possibly prevent them from enlarging further. The first case was performed July 16.

31 Jul 2008

UCLA study identifies factors leading to hospital admission for heart failure

Nearly two out of three patients have one or more precipitating factors that may contribute to hospital admissions nationwide for heart failure, according to a new UCLA study. Pneumonia, irregular heart beats, and obstructed blood flow to the heart are the most frequent factors.

28 Apr 2008

A genetic variation mimics effect of heart failure medications - may explain why beta-blockers do not work for all patients

A genetic variation, found predominantly in African Americans, protects some people with heart failure, enabling them to live longer than expected. That's the conclusion of a research team led by investigators at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

20 Apr 2008

Chronic sleep disruption can cause heart and kidney disease

Chronic sleep disruption can cause heart and kidney disease, researchers at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre of the Toronto General Hospital have discovered.

14 Mar 2008

Patient with AIDS finds heart-assit device is an option when transplant is not

Josh Bristow was in the late stages of heart failure when he came to the Emergency Department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Aug. 25, 2007.

28 Dec 2007

Cardiac stem cell therapy research

Since the year 2000, much has been learned about the potential for using transplanted cells in therapeutic efforts to treat varieties of cardiac disorders.

28 Dec 2007

Genes discovered that protect against heart damage from chemotherapy

A series of genes that protect cells from the powerful, common chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin has been identified by researchers working to understand how the drug also can destroy the heart.

4 Dec 2007

Carbon monoxide counteracts one side-effect of an anti-cancer drug

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a red-colored anticancer drug that carries serious side effects for the heart, including cardiac muscle deterioration (cardiomyopathy) and scar tissue accumulation in the heart (fibrosis).

21 Nov 2007

Blood-incompatible infant heart transplants safe, may save more lives

ABO-incompatible heart transplantation (heart transplantation among non-compatible blood groups) can be safely performed in infants a year old or younger, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007.

6 Nov 2007

Stanford researchers start voluntary program to screen athletes for heart problems

Everyone has heard the stories: the fit 20-something who drops dead in the middle of a marathon, the high school football player who, without warning, dies during practice. While rare, the stories of sudden death among young athletes strike fear into the hearts of parents everywhere.

5 Nov 2007

New ESC guidelines on cardiac pacing and cardiac resynchronization therapy

The European Society of Cardiology has released new guidelines for Cardiac Pacing and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy. These new guidelines cover two main areas: The permanent pacing in bradyarrhythmias, syncope and other specific conditions like hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and ventricular resynchronization as an adjunct therapy in patients with heart failure.

28 Aug 2007

New device to treat chronic congestive heart failure

As part of a 40-site national trial, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center are studying a new medical device designed to treat patients with chronic congestive heart failure.

3 Aug 2007

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator effective in preventing sudden cardiac death in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

High-risk patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy appear to have reduced risk of sudden cardiac death with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator that terminates dangerous heart rhythm disorders, according to a study in the July 25 issue of JAMA.

25 Jul 2007

Initiative to improve heart failure care at nation's hospitals makes major gains

A national initiative designed to improve heart-failure patient care in hospitals proved effective at increasing hospital adherence to key quality-of-care performance measures and reducing the length of hospital stays for patients.

24 Jul 2007