His-optimized cardiac resynchronization therapy successfully narrowed QRS duration, improved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction and heightened functionality in 27 patients with advanced heart failure (HF), according to a study published in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology.

“Rather than bringing in many additional statin candidates, this testing should serve as a decision aid to ‘de-risk’ certain patients and distinguish those who may benefit from preventive pharmacologic therapies," Johns Hopkins researchers wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Andexanet alfa (Andexxa), the only FDA-approved reversal agent for factor Xa inhibitors, was successful in mitigating bleeding events associated with that class of anticoagulants, researchers reported Feb. 7 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A Danish study of 400 patients with infective endocarditis has concluded oral delivery of antibiotics to treat the disease yields similar safety and efficiency as administering the drugs intravenously.

Nearly a quarter of adults living with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) are prescribed at least one pharmaceutical that could exacerbate their condition, according to a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology Feb. 10.

An elevated heart rate upon hospital admission has been repeatedly linked to an increased risk of mortality for acute MI patients (AMI), making admission heart rate a key component of risk-stratification equations. But researchers recently found a patient’s heart rate at discharge was an even more powerful predictor of death over three years of follow-up.

High-risk strains of human papillomavirus (HPV)—ones that have been linked to anogenital and oral cancers—might also increase a woman’s risk for developing cardiovascular disease, research out of Seoul, South Korea, suggests.

A capsule no bigger than a blueberry could be the future of insulin delivery for type 1 diabetics, according to researchers at MIT.