Coronary Artery Disease News and Research

Latest Coronary Artery Disease News and Research

New data supports safety of ranolazine but not its effectiveness

The anti-anginal medication ranolazine was shown to be safe in regard to certain outcomes but did not reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack or recurrent ischemia following acute coronary syndromes, according to a study in the April 25 issue of JAMA .

25 Apr 2007

Ranolazine safe but not effective in reducing major cardiac events in ACS patients

25 Apr 2007

Eating regularly in some fast-food restaurants unsafe

Eating regularly in some fast-food chain outlets is unsafe in many parts of the world, top Danish research experts warn today.

24 Apr 2007

Are higher doses and higher costs for cholesterol drugs worth the extra money?

When it comes to cholesterol-lowering drugs, more is better. At least, that's what heart doctors and heart patients have been hearing in recent years.

24 Apr 2007

Risk and outcome similar for bypass surgery, drug-eluting stents

Drug-eluting stent therapy and bypass surgery for coronary artery disease have about the same risk for a major cardiac event within 30 days after the procedures, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's 8th Annual Conference on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

20 Apr 2007

Gene finding could lead to new pathways for development of Alzheimer's therapeutics

Scientists have known for more than a decade that individuals with a certain gene are at higher risk for developing Alzheimer's disease.

11 Apr 2007

Long-term safety of drug-eluting stents in off-label use

Research presented at the American College of Cardiology's Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit 2007 in New Orleans, La, paints a picture of the "real world" use of drug-eluting stents and offers new insight into the connection between blood clotting, or thrombosis, in the stent - a dangerous complication - and adherence and responsiveness to anti-clotting medication.

3 Apr 2007

Trial of percutaneous coronary intervention added to optimal medical therapy in patients with stable coronary heart disease

Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) involve opening partially blocked arteries to improve blood flow to the heart. These procedures are performed more than 1 million times a year.

3 Apr 2007

Effect of Torcetrapib on the progression of coronary atherosclerosis

Investigators report that torcetrapib, a drug that substantially raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or HDL (the "good" cholesterol), did not slow the progression of plaque buildup in the coronary arteries as measured using an ultrasound probe (IVUS).

2 Apr 2007

Addition of torcetrapib to statin therapy has no benefit for atherosclerosis progression

For some patients with high cholesterol, even the most aggressive treatment with statin drugs fails to prevent coronary artery disease.

2 Apr 2007

African Americans may be at higher risk of heart failure because of racial variations in heart muscle's pumping ability

Scientists have known for nearly a decade that African Americans have higher rates of hospitalization for heart failure than other major U.S. racial or ethnic groups, but until now they have had limited information other than socio-economic and demographic characteristics to explain why this is so.

2 Apr 2007

Coronary procedure adds no benefit over 'optimal medical therapy' alone

Percutaneous coronary intervention plus optimal medical therapy does not improve outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease, compared with optimal medical therapy alone, according to study results presented at the 56th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans, and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

1 Apr 2007

Novel anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent reduces coronary events

Heart attacks are caused by a build-up and instability of plaque in the coronary arteries, which is often a result of chronic inflammation of the blood vessel walls.

31 Mar 2007

New treatments and interventions for chronically impaired cardiac patients

Whether a patient is awaiting a heart transplant or living with chronic heart failure, cardiologists are continuously looking for new therapies that address short-term and/or long-term needs of chronically impaired cardiac patients.

30 Mar 2007

Treating sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure reduces incidence of stroke

Patients with moderate to severe sleep apnea who have significantly higher serum levels of inflammatory markers that serve as precursors to coronary artery disease, as well as lesions associated with silent brain infarction, have an elevated risk of stroke, according to a group of Japanese medical researchers.

19 Mar 2007

Psychological depression contributes to worse medical outcomes for patients with heart failure

Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure, is marked by the inability of the heart muscle to pump enough oxygen and nutrients in the blood to the body's tissues.

27 Feb 2007

Irregular heartbeat linked to genetic mutation

Every day for 10 years, a seemingly heart-healthy 53-year-old woman experienced rapid and irregular heartbeats. She had no personal or family history of hypertension or hyperthyroidism. She did not suffer from myocardial or coronary artery disease, or any abnormalities of the heart as best doctors and medical science could determine.

25 Feb 2007

Low levels of RANTES protein in the blood is a predictor of cardiac death

Researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn have determined that low levels of a protein in the blood is a predictor of cardiac death in patients with coronary artery disease.

20 Feb 2007

International consortium to get to heart of coronary artery disease

An international consortium has been launched to tackle coronary artery disease using the latest scientific tools. Funded by the European Commission, the initiative will build on recent advances in genomic science and the understanding of our genes to develop effective strategies for preventing and treating the disease.

7 Feb 2007

High blood pressure in pregnancy may lead to heart disease

Women who develop high blood pressure during pregnancy are more likely to develop increased coronary calcification later in life than those who maintained a normal blood pressure, researchers said in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

6 Feb 2007