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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Psychosocial health in adults with CHD better than 20 years ago

The psychosocial status of adults living with congenital heart disease (CHD) has improved over the past couple of decades, researchers report of a cross-sectional study that analyzed CHD patients’ quality of life between 1995 and 2015.

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Top execs resign after investigation into deaths at pediatric heart program

Three administrators at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, including the CEO, have resigned following a report from the Tampa Bay Times that found mortality rates tripled in the pediatric heart surgery unit from 2015 to 2017—even as the center began to turn away more challenging cases.

Study: SAVR mortality predicts TAVR outcomes in US hospitals

Hospitals with favorable outcomes for surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) procedures subsequently see better transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) outcomes when they launch TAVR programs, researchers reported in JAMA Cardiology Dec. 5, suggesting the quality of an institution’s surgical team could be an indicator of how they’ll fare after they initiate TAVR.

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High-risk TAVR, SAVR patients see similar survival at 5 years

High-risk transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) patients see the same rates of functional recovery and survival as surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) patients half a decade after their procedures, according to data published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

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Report: Death rates tripled in 2-year span at Florida pediatric heart program

The Tampa Bay Times published a lengthy investigative piece Nov. 28 about recent problems at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, where the heart surgery unit saw a tripling in its mortality rate from 2015 to 2017.

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Women who snore face greater CVD risk than men

Though a significantly greater proportion of men are snorers, research presented Nov. 29 at the Radiological Society of North America’s annual meeting in Chicago suggests women who snore or experience obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are at a greater risk for early cardiac dysfunction than their male counterparts.

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MitraClip survivors show substantial, lasting gains in quality of life

Although nearly a quarter of patients in a U.S. registry study died in the year following transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR), those who survived showed significant gains in health status.

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Risk of major stroke lower after transfemoral TAVR than SAVR

The risk of major stroke was higher in the 30 days following surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) compared to transfemoral TAVR, according to a propensity-matched analysis from the PARTNER trials published Nov. 12 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

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