Echocardiogram News and Research

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CT scans reveal subclinical leaflet thrombosis in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement

About 12 percent of patients undergoing aortic valve replacement developed non-symptomatic blood clots around the valve leaflets (known as subclinical leaflet thrombosis) that reduced the motion of the valves, according to an observational study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session.

20 Mar 2017

Zika virus may also cause serious cardiovascular complications, research shows

Zika also may have serious effects on the heart, new research shows in the first study to report cardiovascular complications related to this virus, according to data being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session.

10 Mar 2017

Smoking linked to thicker heart walls and worse heart function

Smoking is associated with thicker heart walls and reduction in the heart's pumping ability, two factors associated with increased risk of heart failure, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging.

3 Oct 2016

Heart specialists to examine benefit of ECG screening for student athletes

UT Southwestern Medical Center heart specialists will study whether electrocardiograms (ECGs) are useful in identifying Texas high school student athletes who are at risk of suffering sudden cardiac death.

7 Sep 2016

Serious heart problem can run in families and occur at similar ages, study suggests

People with a family member who had an aortic dissection—a spontaneous tear in one of the body's main arteries—should take note of the age that family member was when the aortic dissection occurred.

25 Aug 2016

Surgical repair of mitral valve may provide greater benefit in patients with no symptoms

A new study recently published in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery questions whether patients with isolated moderate to severe mitral valve regurgitation should receive treatment in earlier stages instead of waiting until symptoms appear.

25 Aug 2016

Penn researchers explore possibilities to improve outcomes in low flow AS patients treated with TAVR

Aortic stenosis (AS), the narrowing of the aortic valve in the heart which causes restricted blood flow, is one of the most common and serious valve disease problems. For patients with one type of AS - low flow - transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a minimally invasive procedure which corrects the damaged aortic valve, is often the best option for restoring the heart's normal pumping function.

16 Jun 2016

Women undergoing breast cancer treatment are not getting recommended follow-up heart scans

Despite the known toxic effects of chemotherapy on the heart, the majority of women undergoing breast cancer treatment are not getting the recommended follow-up heart scans, according to research presented at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference in Manchester today.

6 Jun 2016

CMR could offer complete imaging solution before pulmonary vein isolation

Cardiac magnetic resonance can potentially be used to detect thrombi at the same time as being used for pulmonary venous anatomy mapping, say researchers

4 Jun 2016

Health benefits of gastric bypass surgery start soon after procedure

The health benefits of Roux-en Y gastric bypass surgery—a surgical weight-loss procedure in which the stomach is made smaller—start soon after the procedure. New research presented today at the Experimental Biology 2016 meeting in San Diego found that patients who underwent the procedure already showed some reductions in weight, waist circumference and body mass index one week after the procedure.

7 Apr 2016

CHLA cardiologists perform rare fetal cardiac intervention procedure

Last August, when Children's Hospital Los Angeles cardiologists confirmed that the heart of a 27-week-old fetus suffered from a critical cardiac condition that prevented blood returning from the fetus's lungs from circulating back into the body, they told the parents that their child faced certain open-heart surgery after birth. Even worse, babies born with this very rare condition—hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) with restrictive atrial septum—have a 50 percent neonatal mortality rate.

27 Feb 2016

New BayCare Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery office opens at St. Anthony's Hospital

To improve access to high-quality, advanced cardiac surgery services in St. Petersburg and south Pinellas County, BayCare Health System has opened a BayCare Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery office at St. Anthony's Hospital.

24 Feb 2016

Cardiovascular considerations crucial for CML TKI patients

A review of BCR–ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors highlights the need to consider cardiovascular adverse event risk profiles when prescribing for patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia.

22 Jan 2016

Cedars-Sinai researcher receives $2.5 million grant to develop risk assessment tool for sudden cardiac arrest

A Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute physician researcher has received a $2.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to develop a risk assessment tool that could identify patients susceptible to sudden cardiac arrest, a usually fatal heart rhythm malfunction.

11 Jan 2016

Study challenges new ESC Guidelines to identify high-risk HCM patients who need ICDs for prevention of sudden death

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a genetic form of heart disease with thick heart walls, is the most common cause of sudden death in patients under 50. While only a minority of patients with HCM are at risk, the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) can effectively prevent sudden death in those patients.

22 Sep 2015

Children's Hospital Los Angeles successfully implants Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve in child actor

Cardiologists from Children's Hospital Los Angeles successfully implanted a Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve in child actor Max Page, the boy who made headlines playing mini Darth Vader in a 2011 Super Bowl ad for Volkswagen.

28 Aug 2015

Study: High-normal BP in young adults spells heart failure risk in later life

Mild elevations in blood pressure considered to be in the upper range of normal during young adulthood can lead to subclinical heart damage by middle age -- a condition that sets the stage for full-blown heart failure, according to findings of a federally funded study led by scientists at Johns Hopkins.

23 Jun 2015

Study finds no statistical difference between CTA and functional stress tests

A new type of CT scan initially costs slightly less than the traditional stress test to diagnose blocked coronary arteries in patients with chest pain, but its lower cost did not translate into medical care savings over time, according to an analysis by Duke Medicine researchers.

23 Mar 2015

Study tracks long-term effects of weight loss on atrial fibrillation burden

Obese patients with atrial fibrillation who lost at least 10 percent of their body weight were six times more likely to achieve long-term freedom from this common heart rhythm disorder compared to those who did not lose weight, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 64th Annual Scientific Session.

17 Mar 2015

Training medical students on handheld ultrasound device can enhance their physical diagnosis

A new study by researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that training medical students to use a handheld ultrasound device can enhance the accuracy of their physical diagnosis.

21 Nov 2014