A Canadian cohort study suggested that congenital heart defects in offspring may be an early marker of predisposition to cardiovascular disease (CVD). The study included 1 084 251 women who had delivered infants between 1989 and 2013, with follow-up extending up to 25 years past pregnancy. Women whose infants had […]
A multi-center registry in the US revealed that myocarditis associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) may occur early, has a malignant course and may respond to higher doses of steroids. The initial 35 cases were diagnosed between November 2013 and July 2017, with an incidence of 1.9% and median onset […]
Growing body of evidence supports that increasing adiposity has a detrimental association with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and longevity. The association of body mass index (BMI) with CVD appeared more susceptible to confounding due to pre-existing comorbidities. Associations of waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, and percentage body fat mass with […]
A randomized clinical study of specifically designed isoenergetic diets, together with fecal shotgun metagenomics, showed that a select group of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing strains of the gut microbiota was promoted by dietary fibers, and correlated with improved blood-glucose regulation in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). The improvement in hemoglobin […]
“Time is brain,” the time-focused mantra has been extended in acute stroke care. Findings of 2 recent trials—showing that a mechanical thrombectomy treatment window of 16 to even 24 hours can still benefit imaging-selected patient—have been adopted into the new American Heart Association/American Stroke Association guidelines. Strokes develop differently; some […]
A randomized study concluded that catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with heart failure (HF) was associated with a significantly lower rate of death from any cause or hospitalization for worsening HF than was medical therapy. The study randomly assigned HF patients with symptomatic paroxysmal or persistent AF […]
A retrospective study of a community-based cohort in the US revealed that resting heart rate (HR) and change in heart rate over time (ΔHR) are associated with mortality and nonfatal outcomes of incident heart failure, myocardial infarction, and stroke. The study included 15 680 white and African American participants (55.2% women, […]
The American College of Physicians criticized that the 2017 blood pressure (BP) guideline may fall short in weighing the potential benefits against potential harms, costs, and anticipated variation in individual patient preferences, especially for average- and lower-risk adults 60 and older. Other experts echoed some of the same concerns, arguing […]
A prospective study to assess the safety of MRI at a magnetic field strength of 1.5 Tesla in patients with a pacemaker (58%) or an implantable cardioverter–defibrillator (42%) that was not considered to be MRI-conditional (termed a “legacy” device) showed no long-term clinically significant adverse events. The study included 1509 […]
A study revealed that many middle-aged individuals free of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) have atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis presence and extent was associated with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and glycosylated hemoglobin levels (HbA1c). The study evaluated 1,779 (45.0 ± 4.1 years old, 50.3% women) participants. CVRF freedom was defined as no current […]