Heart Surgery News and Research

RSS

Heart surgery is done to correct problems with the heart. More than half a million heart surgeries are done each year in the United States for a variety of heart problems. Heart surgery is used to correct heart problems in children and adults. This article discusses heart surgeries for adults. For more information about heart surgeries for children, see the Diseases and Conditions Index articles on congenital heart defects, holes in the heart, and tetralogy of Fallot.

The most common type of heart surgery for adults is coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). During CABG, surgeons use healthy arteries or veins taken from another part of the body to bypass (that is, go around) blocked arteries. CABG relieves chest pain and reduces the risk of heart attack.

U-M C.S. Mott Children's Hospital ranks top in best pediatric specialty rankings

The University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital has earned the highest rankings in the state of Michigan and is among the best in the country in pediatric specialties according to the U.S. News Media Group's Best Children's Hospital rankings.

18 May 2011

Reprogrammed herpes virus can improve early cancer diagnosis

Scientists have used a genetically re-engineered herpes virus that selectively hunts down and infects cancerous tumors and then delivers genetic material that prompts cancers to secrete a biomarker and reveal their presence.

12 May 2011

Washington Post examines Iraq's Baghdad Hospital

In an article looking at Baghdad Hospital, the Washington Post reports that "[i]t is difficult to overstate how far [the hospital] has come since the worst days of the war, when supplies were so scarce that doctors sometimes performed open heart surgery without gloves. ... Arriving at work was a small miracle: The hospital has lost at least 40 doctors to assassins since 2004 - they are still occasionally targeted - and their photos stare down from walls."

11 May 2011

Painkiller warning for heart patients: Study

According to the latest study, taking some commonly prescribed painkillers for even a short while might increase the risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke. The study also reports that when heart attack survivors took the drugs for as little as a week, it appeared to boost their risk of another heart attack, stroke or sudden death. The results, published in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, surprised even the researchers.

10 May 2011

Research finds 'no safe window' for painkiller use among heart attack survivors

Even short-term use of some painkillers could be dangerous for people who've had a heart attack, according to research published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

10 May 2011

Heart bypass surgery rates fall by 38% between 2001 and 2008: Study

According to latest the U.S. research, the number of heart patients getting bypass surgery fell by 38 percent between 2001 and 2008. This fall reflects several factors, including a decline in smoking rates, which has led to less coronary artery disease, said senior study author Dr. Peter Groeneveld, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

4 May 2011

Study finds disparities in male, female patients for heart disease treatment at U.S. hospitals

A study released today by HealthGrades, the nation's leading, independent source of physician information and hospital quality ratings, found notable disparities in the treatment and outcomes of male and female patients at U.S. hospitals.

3 May 2011

New innovative pilot project to combat surgical infections

Roughly one out of every 24 patients undergoing surgery acquires a surgical site infection. With 40 million operations performed in the U.S. each year, between 800,000 and 2 million individuals contract these infections annually.

29 Apr 2011

MAQUET introduces new pediatric oxygenators and reservoirs in the U.S.

MAQUET Cardiovascular today announced the launch of its QUADROX-i Neonatal and Pediatric oxygenators and reservoirs in the United States. Oxygenators are an integral part of a cardiopulmonary bypass system and function as an artificial lung during surgical procedures.

27 Apr 2011

FDA approves St. Jude Medical's Trifecta valve for stented aortic valve replacement

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its Trifecta™ valve. The valve, a clinically-proven replacement for diseased, damaged or malfunctioning aortic heart valves, mimics the flow of a natural, healthy heart and represents a significant new product in the pericardial aortic stented tissue valve market.

21 Apr 2011

Loyola enrolls patients in clinical trial for open-heart valve replacement surgery

Loyola University Hospital is enrolling patients in a clinical trial that offers an alternative to traditional open-heart surgery for patients who need new aortic heart valves.

20 Apr 2011

New biomarker-based test more effective for early acute kidney injury detection

A new biomarker-based diagnostic test is more effective than the current best practice for early detection of adverse outcomes after acute kidney injury, which can be fatal for an estimated 50 percent of the critically ill patients who get the condition.

19 Apr 2011

New data finds 50% decline in heart surgery wait times in Alberta and BC

New data from the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine shows that wait times for a number of heart surgeries have gone down close to 50 per cent in Alberta and British Columbia.

6 Apr 2011

MR patients treated with Abbott MitraClip system demonstrate clinical benefits of initial treatment at two years

Abbott today announced data from its EVEREST II (Endovascular Valve Edge-to-Edge REpair STudy) study showing that patients with significant mitral regurgitation (MR) treated with the company's investigational percutaneous catheter-based MitraClip® system continue to demonstrate the clinical benefits of initial treatment shown at one year out to two years, including improvements in heart function and reductions in symptoms.

5 Apr 2011

Less-invasive catheter-based aortic valve replacement as safe and effective as open surgery

Less-invasive catheter-based aortic valve replacement has a similar one-year survival as open valve-replacement surgery for patients at high risk for surgery.

5 Apr 2011

The New England Journal of Medicine publishes positive results from NorthShore's EVEREST II trial

NorthShore University HealthSystem interventional cardiologist, Ted Feldman, MD, presented positive results from the EVEREST II trial, that were concurrently published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

5 Apr 2011

Both radial and femoral approaches are safe and effective for angioplasty

In the future you may hear the doctor say: "Give me your arm and I'll do some heart surgery."

5 Apr 2011

Non-invasive catheterization can lead to positive outcomes in elderly patients with stenosis

A major new study presented today at the yearly scientific meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in New Orleans shows conclusively that replacing defective aortic valves in elderly patients through non-invasive "catheterization" – rather than through much more invasive open-heart surgery – leads to significantly better outcomes.

4 Apr 2011

SMT announces $10.5 million financing to develop novel device for use in TAVI procedures

SMT Research and Development Ltd. of Herzliya Pituach, Israel announced today a significant investment by OrbiMed Advisors LLC. SMT is finalizing the development of a novel embolic protection device designed for use during Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation procedures.

4 Apr 2011

Regado's REG1 system Phase 2b trial results presented at i2 Summit

Regado Biosciences, Inc., a privately held company pioneering the development of antithrombotic aptamers with active control agents, announced today the primary results of the RADAR Phase 2b clinical trial of the company's lead product, the anticoagulation system REG1, at the i2 Summit during the American College of Cardiology 2011 60th Annual Scientific Session & Expo in New Orleans, LA.

4 Apr 2011

Heart Surgery News and Research

U-M C.S. Mott Children's Hospital ranks top in best pediatric specialty rankings

Reprogrammed herpes virus can improve early cancer diagnosis

Washington Post examines Iraq's Baghdad Hospital

Painkiller warning for heart patients: Study

Research finds 'no safe window' for painkiller use among heart attack survivors

Heart bypass surgery rates fall by 38% between 2001 and 2008: Study

Study finds disparities in male, female patients for heart disease treatment at U.S. hospitals

New innovative pilot project to combat surgical infections

MAQUET introduces new pediatric oxygenators and reservoirs in the U.S.

FDA approves St. Jude Medical's Trifecta valve for stented aortic valve replacement

Loyola enrolls patients in clinical trial for open-heart valve replacement surgery

New biomarker-based test more effective for early acute kidney injury detection

New data finds 50% decline in heart surgery wait times in Alberta and BC

MR patients treated with Abbott MitraClip system demonstrate clinical benefits of initial treatment at two years

Less-invasive catheter-based aortic valve replacement as safe and effective as open surgery

The New England Journal of Medicine publishes positive results from NorthShore's EVEREST II trial

Both radial and femoral approaches are safe and effective for angioplasty

Non-invasive catheterization can lead to positive outcomes in elderly patients with stenosis

SMT announces $10.5 million financing to develop novel device for use in TAVI procedures

Regado's REG1 system Phase 2b trial results presented at i2 Summit

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

Latest News