Structural Heart Disease

Structural heart diseases include any issues preventing normal cardiovascular function due to damage or alteration to the anatomical components of the heart. This is caused by aging, advanced atherosclerosis, calcification, tissue degeneration, congenital heart defects and heart failure. The most commonly treated areas are the heart valves, in particular the mitral and aortic valves. These can be replaced through open heart surgery or using cath lab-based transcatheter valves or repairs to eliminate regurgitation due to faulty valve leaflets. This includes transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Other common procedures include left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion and closing congenital holes in the heart, such as PFO and ASD. A growing area includes transcatheter mitral repair or replacement and transcatheter tricuspid valve repair and replacement.

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ACC Corner | Personalized Medicine: Next Generation of CV Care?

Given the ever-increasing advances in science and research related to genetics, its not surprising that discussions about personalized medicine among care providers and government officials are heating up.

Circ: Triple-drug rejection therapy not needed for heart transplant

Monotherapy and a shorter duration of steroid use is an effective immunosuppressant compared with traditional combination therapy for heart transplant patients, according to the results of the TICTAC trial published online Jan. 7 in Circulation: Heart Failure.

AEM: ED patients with flutter need defibrillation, not drugs

Researchers found that electrocardioversion, rather than anti-arrhythmic drugs, provided faster conversion to normal rhythm and shorter hospital stays, according to a study of the largest group of emergency department (ED) patients with atrial flutter evaluated to this point, which was published online Jan. 20 in Annals of Emergency Medicine.

Study: Fast, inexpensive hypothermia protocol improves post-cardiac arrest

A protocol using a combination of core and surface cooling modalities was rapid, safe and low cost in achieving mild therapeutic hypothermia, and relied on readily available equipment rather than costly commercial devices, according to a study in the January issue of Resuscitation.

EHJ: Danish researchers refine evaluation of SCD in young

There are inherent problems and inconsistencies with calculating the number of sudden cardiac deaths (SCD) in the young. Danish researchers, however, used a rigorous method and found an incidence rate higher than previously reported, according to a study published online Dec. 2 in the European Heart Journal.

AHA: Secondary ed students need CPR/AED training to graduate

A scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and familiarization with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) should be required elements of secondary school curricula, and was published online Jan. 10 in Circulation.

FDA permits Medtronic to revise CoreValve pivotal trial

The FDA has allowed Medtronic to modify its CoreValve U.S. pivotal clinical trial. The revised trial will assess the CoreValve system in inoperable patients in a single-arm study with a primary endpoint of all-cause death or major stroke within 12 months. The revision also will evaluate alternate implantation routes for delivering transcatheter valves, such as the subclavian approach.

GSK takes $3.4B hit over U.S. Avandia woes

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is expecting to record a legal charge for the fourth quarter of 2010 of 2.2 billion ($3.4 billion USD), primarily related to additional provisioning in respect to the investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado into its U.S. sales and promotional practices and for product liability cases regarding rosiglitazone (Avandia).

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