Aorta News and Research

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Patients on statin drugs may have lower AAA surgery costs

Patients taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may have better results and lower procedure costs when having a common operation for repairing a bulging aorta, according to a new study presented at the 95th annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

15 Oct 2009

Patient outcomes better in highly rated hospitals than others

The largest annual study of patient outcomes at each of the nation's 5,000 nonfederal hospitals found a wide gap in quality between the nation's best hospitals and all others. According to the study, issued today by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, patients at highly rated hospitals have a 52 percent lower chance of dying compared with the U.S. hospital average, a quality chasm that has persisted for the last decade even as mortality rates, in general, have declined.

13 Oct 2009

Medtronic launches Captivia Delivery System for Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft

Adding to its market-leading portfolio of innovative medical technology for endovascular aortic repair (EVAR), Medtronic, Inc., announced today the CE (Conformité Européene) mark and international launch of the Captivia Delivery System for the Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft, a minimally invasive treatment for aneurysms and other lesions of the thoracic aorta.

9 Oct 2009

Medtronic launches the Endurant Abdominal Stent Graft System in Canada

Expanding the application of endovascular aortic repair around the world, Medtronic, Inc., announces the launch of the EndurantTM Abdominal Stent Graft System in Canada.

30 Sep 2009

Technique to reduce stroke in cardiac surgery patients

Sequoia Hospital announced today that they are one of only two hospital participant abstracts selected for oral presentation at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Advances in Outcomes and Quality national conference held this week in San Diego, California. "Separated Cerebral and Corporeal Perfusion Reduces Stroke Risk in Cardiac Surgery Patients with Mobile Aortic Atheromata" will be presented by Audrey Fisher, MPH, Sequoia Hospital Manager of Cardiovascular Quality & Outcomes. This new technique was developed to reduce strokes in cardiac surgery patients by isolating blood flow to the brain during cardiopulmonary bypass.

22 Sep 2009

Transcatheter valve implantation is an effective treatment for patients with aortic stenosis

Research presented at the 21st annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), demonstrated an "exceptionally low" rate of complications one year after implantation of transcatheter aortic valve prostheses.

22 Sep 2009

Carotid and cardiac procedures result in higher incidence of post-operative strokes

Among patients undergoing cardiac surgery, post-operative stroke occurred in approximately 2 percent, was not correlated with significant carotid artery narrowing, but was more common among patients who had combined cardiac and carotid procedures, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

14 Sep 2009

Insects may guide in building better artificial tissues and organs

Insects are about to be analyzed in a new way by a host of Virginia Tech engineering faculty. They will be using some fancy state-of-the-art equipment, such as a kilometer-long synchrotron x-ray light source, which might be enough to scare any bug. And first up will be beetles, grasshoppers and silk moths because they have some endearing characteristics.

4 Sep 2009

First artificial heart implant successfully performed by a AUBMC medical team

A medical team at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) has successfully performed the first artificial heart implant in Lebanon, saving the life of a 37-year-old man suffering from terminal heart failure.

4 Sep 2009

Research reveals major genetic differences between blood and tissue cells

Research by a group of Montreal scientists calls into question one of the most basic assumptions of human genetics: that when it comes to DNA, every cell in the body is essentially identical to every other cell. Their results appear in the July issue of the journal Human Mutation.

15 Jul 2009

Boy born with half a heart survives and thrives

Rhonda Ellison was six months pregnant when she and her husband, James Gaines, got the kind of news all parents dread going into an ultrasound: something was wrong with their baby. They needed to go to the Children's Heart Center at Golisano Children's Hospital.

27 May 2009

Cytomegalovirus may cause high blood pressure

A new study suggests for the first time that cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common viral infection affecting between 60 and 99 percent of adults worldwide, is a cause of high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

15 May 2009

Clues about how blood forms could yield new strategies for treating blood diseases

Biologists have long wondered why the embryonic heart begins beating so early, before the tissues actually need to be infused with blood.

13 May 2009

Discovery of major new treatment target in diseased arteries

Removing a single protein prevents early damage in blood vessels from triggering a later-stage, frequently lethal complication of atherosclerosis, according to research published online today in the journal Nature Medicine. By eliminating the gene for a signaling protein called cyclophilin A (CypA) from a strain of mice, researchers were able to provide complete protection against abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

11 May 2009

Studies indicate why females do not fare as well as men in undergoing angioplasty for heart attacks

Age, condition and treatment delay are among the reasons women who undergo angioplasty for heart attack often do not fare as well as do men, according to two studies presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 32nd Annual Scientific Sessions.

6 May 2009

Human foetal stem cells can effectively be used to treat back leg ischaemic ulcers

Treatment of chronic wounds is a continuing clinical problem and socio-economic burden with diabetic foot ulcers alone costing the NHS £300 million a year.

20 Apr 2009

New streamlined triage system for "brain attack"

Taking a page out of the playbook developed by cardiologists nearly two decades ago to promote the warning signs and swift treatment for heart attacks, a multidisciplinary team of stroke experts at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) have created a new streamlined triage system at Strong Memorial Hospital's Emergency Department (ED) to provide rapid evaluation and specialized treatments to "brain attack," or stroke, patients.

1 Apr 2009

Accurate assessment of heart disease leads to earlier, more aggressive therapy

In a study comparing the ability of various medical techniques to accurately determine the extent of heart disease and stratify patients according to disease severity, researchers found that myocardial perfusion testing with gated single photon emission computed tomography (gated SPECT) was a more accurate predictor of prognosis in chronic ischemic heart disease (IHD)-a painful condition caused by a temporary reduction of oxygen-rich blood to the heart.

1 Apr 2009

Amniotic fluid may be a new source of stem cells

For the first time, scientists have shown that amniotic fluid (the protective liquid surrounding an embryo) may be a potential new source of stem cells for therapeutic applications. The study was prepublished online on February 12, 2009, in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

31 Mar 2009

Estrogen activates critical lung genes to improve lung function following preterm birth

Estrogen may be a new postnatal therapy to improve lung function and other outcomes in preterm infants, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in an animal study.

12 Mar 2009