Cardiothoracic Surgery News and Research

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Telmisartan potent against stroke

Telmisartan, a drug widely used to help control blood pressure, may have uniquely potent activity in preventing stroke, according to a new study conducted in an animal model.

13 Dec 2007

Exercise testing to predict mitral regurgitation

In as many as one in five people over age 55, when the heart contracts to send blood around the body, some degree of backward leakage occurs across the mitral valve, a condition known as mitral regurgitation (MR).

12 Dec 2007

Exercise testing may help predict seriousness of mitral regurgitation

12 Dec 2007

Simple blood test may accurately detect thoracic aneurysm disease

Yale scientists have discovered a way to use a simple blood test that may accurately detect thoracic aneurysm disease (TAA), which gives little warning and is almost always fatal if untreated.

24 Oct 2007

Penn awarded $2.1 million grant for cardiovascular research

Cardiac researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have received a $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to pioneer studies in cardiovascular disease management and participate in a novel collaboration network to develop and implement research in this critically important field.

12 Oct 2007

Link between nicotine and atherosclerosis

It's well known that smoking cigarettes increases risk for a host of serious health problems from cancer to heart disease. Now a new study from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City looks at how they do their dirty work by contributing to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. The evidence points to nicotine, the addictive chemical in cigarettes.

11 Sep 2007

Heart-assist device gives Culver City man a better quality of life

Mark Heiner of Culver City reads books, paints artistically, takes walks and does laundry – activities that would be considered routine except for the fact that a four-pound disk implanted in his abdominal cavity is keeping his blood flowing.

28 May 2007

Study of VentrAssist heart support device as a bridge to transplantation

Doctors at UPMC have begun a study using an investigational cardiac device, the VentrAssist, Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAD) to see whether it can be used safely and effectively in patients with end-stage heart failure.

23 May 2007

First beating heart transplant procedure in the US

Protected by its own nutrients and blood supply, a beating heart supported by an investigational organ preservation device was successfully transplanted into a 47-year-old man with congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension on Sunday, April 8.

18 May 2007

New guidelines for blood conservation during cardiac procedures

A team of medical experts led by a Virginia Commonwealth University anesthesiologist and a thoracic surgeon from the University of Kentucky has established a set of clinical guidelines to help physicians decrease the need for blood transfusions in high-risk patients during cardiac operations.

17 May 2007

Health effects of passive somking studied in first-of-a-kind clinical study

Until bans on in-flight smoking took effect, beginning in 1988, flight attendants were regularly exposed to secondhand smoke.

1 Feb 2007

Obtaining and documenting informed patient consent prior to surgery

Obtaining and documenting informed patient consent prior to surgery is of vital importance, but both the process and documentation of consent can be inadequate.

3 May 2006

Lung-volume reduction surgery is a good option for many patients with end-stage emphysema

Tens of thousands of Americans living with emphysema would benefit from a surgical procedure that removes part of the lung, according to national research presented by a Saint Louis University cardiothoracic surgeon.

21 Feb 2006

Researchers isolate causes of cognitive loss following coronary artery bypass surgery

Minimizing trauma to the body's largest artery - the aorta - during heart bypass surgery can significantly reduce cognitive loss that often follows the operation, a team from Wake Forest University School of Medicine reported in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

23 Jan 2006

Heart pump technology - comparative study

Chicago's first participant in the RELIANT (Randomized Evaluation of the Novacor(r) LVAS In A Non-Transplant Population) research study recently went home from Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

5 Dec 2005

Novel therapies for pleural mesothelioma

Researchers at New York University School of Medicine and Wayne State University have found a molecule that reveals the early stages of pleural mesothelioma, a chest cancer caused by asbestos. The finding opens the way to a blood test for the disease, according to a new study published in the Oct. 13 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

12 Oct 2005

Ways to avoid hazards of heart bypass under study

The heart-lung bypass machine that stills the heart while surgeons bypass an adult’s clogged arteries or repair a baby’s malformed heart can also trigger a potentially deadly inflammatory response.

28 Aug 2005

Stem cells with heart bypass surgery trial to begin

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has been granted approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a clinical trial to determine the safety and feasibility of injecting a patient's own bone marrow-derived stem cells directly into the heart during conventional heart bypass surgery.

25 Aug 2005

Beta-blockers top choice for prevention and rate control for postoperative atrial fibrillation

The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) has released the first evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and management of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardiac surgery.

9 Aug 2005

Study finds better long-term outcomes when surgeons place a bypass graft to all the territories of the heart that have significantly blocked arteries

Pointing out that not all coronary artery bypass operations are performed the same way or have equivalent outcomes, cardiothoracic surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have found that patients who have blockages of multiple coronary arteries and undergo "complete revascularization" - grafting of arteries to restore blood flow to all affected territories of the heart - have consistently better long-term survival rates than those who have "incomplete revascularization."

20 Jun 2005