A nurse navigator-led program at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Oregon helped the hospital double its palliative care referral rates for advanced heart failure patients considered to be at high risk of readmission.

A national cardiovascular disease screening project in China revealed fewer than 3 percent of high-risk participants were taking either statins or aspirin—a finding researchers described as a “wake-up call” for middle- and low-income countries which are struggling to combat their worsening CVD risk profiles.

A study published in the February issue of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found cancer patients who are dually diagnosed with heart disease face a disproportionately high financial burden—something that might improve with a more streamlined and collaborative approach to cardio-oncology.

An analysis of sex-related differences in cardiovascular risk factors, treatment and control in the U.S. has revealed women have a better handle on their high blood pressure than men, but they also fare worse in terms of cholesterol and obesity.

Oregon Health & Sciences University might have a chance to revive the heart transplant program it shuttered last August after all four of its cardiologists left the institution, according to reports from the Oregonian and Oregon Live.

T2 mapping derived from weekly cardiac MRIs helped researchers identify cardiotoxicity at an early and reversible stage, a finding which may have implications for cancer patients at risk of chemotherapy-induced heart failure.

Diabetes mellitus continues to be linked to higher all-cause and CVD mortality in patients living with the disease, according to work published in the Journal of the American Heart Association Feb. 19. But some of that risk could be mitigated by controlling cardiovascular risk factors, and diabetes-related deaths are down overall.

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will negotiate with four U.S. companies to potentially fund molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) production without the use of highly enriched uranium.

In the latest twist in the debate over the long-term safety of paclitaxel-coated balloons and stents, a correction published Feb. 19 in Circulation said the five-year mortality results of the Zilver PTX randomized trial were “inadvertently reversed”—and that uncoated devices were actually associated with better survival. 

The American Heart Association announced on Feb. 20 it launched a series of quick online reference tools for physicians and their patients who struggle with high blood pressure, including a list of four of the most common mistakes hypertensives can make on a daily basis.