Acute Coronary Syndromes

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is most commonly caused by a heart attack (myocardial infarction) where blood flow to the heart is suddenly blocked. This is usually caused by a blood clot from a ruptured coronary artery atherosclerotic plaque. Other causes include spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), which most commonly occurs in women. ACS is usually treated in a cath lab with angioplasty and the placement of a stent to prop the vessel open.

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Quicker diagnosis protocol for suspected ACS fails to improve outcomes

Discharging patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) under a 0- and 1-hour high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T protocol is helpful for clearing waiting rooms, according to work presented at the ESC Congress Sept. 3.

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Napping twice a week lowers risk of CVD

Taking a nap once or twice a week—regardless of how long those naps are—can lower a person’s risk of incident heart disease, researchers report in the latest issue of BMJ Heart.

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‘We’re moving in the wrong direction’: Why younger people are having more heart attacks

Despite a decades-long decline in the rate of heart attacks among older people in the U.S., younger men in their twenties and thirties are presenting more often with MI, Men’s Health reports.

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18 years later: What 9/11 meant for firefighters’ heart health

New York City firefighters exposed to dust and debris from the World Trade Center attacks on and after Sept. 11, 2001, are far more likely to experience an adverse cardiovascular event in the long-term, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open Sept. 6.

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Educational status predicts death, CV events

A study out of Emory University has revealed a link between education levels and the odds of developing or dying from CVD, with anything under a graduate degree representing a higher risk of heart disease. 

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Total heart disease deaths rise in US

Heart disease deaths are on the rise in the U.S., according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Aug. 27—and they have been for almost a decade.

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Miracor Medical snags breakthrough designation for STEMI treatment

Belgium-based Miracor Medical has secured FDA breakthrough device designation for its PiCSO Impulse System, an innovation designed to treat STEMI patients.

Childhood cancer survivors face steep odds of CVD later in life

Childhood cancer survivors are up to three times more likely than their cancer-free peers to develop various types of heart disease, according to an Aug. 26 study published in Circulation.

Around the web

Several key trends were evident at the Radiological Society of North America 2024 meeting, including new CT and MR technology and evolving adoption of artificial intelligence.

Ron Blankstein, MD, professor of radiology, Harvard Medical School, explains the use of artificial intelligence to detect heart disease in non-cardiac CT exams.