Breast cancer patients under 60 years old are nearly twice as likely as their healthy counterparts to develop both short- and long-term atrial fibrillation (AF), researchers reported Jan. 29 in Heart Rhythm.

A new analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggests the learning curve for achieving the best transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) outcomes may have dissipated with a current-generation, balloon-expandable device.

The blood sugar drug dapagliflozin was declared noninferior to placebo in the recent DECLARE-TIMI 58 trial, and while the medication failed to lower rates of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in subjects, it did reduce rates of CV-related death and hospitalizations for heart failure.

Knowing he needed a new heart, Robert Montgomery, MD, saw an opportunity to practice what he preaches. So, the 58-year-old director of NYU Langone Health’s Transplant Institute accepted an organ from a heroin user who died of a drug overdose and had hepatitis C.

People taking the widely prescribed blood-pressure medication valsartan may have been exposed to a probable human carcinogen for at least four years after a change in the manufacturing process introduced the impurity, according to an update from the FDA’s ongoing investigation into the contaminants that have been found in a series of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs).

Non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) including dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban and edoxaban have replaced warfarin as the preferred treatment for reducing stroke risk in patients with atrial fibrillation, according to updated guidelines issued Jan. 28.

The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) weighed in on the ongoing debate regarding the long-term safety of paclitaxel-coated balloons and stents on Jan. 25, largely agreeing with the FDA’s stance that the benefits of such devices appear to outweigh the risks until more information becomes available.

The risk of infective endocarditis rises alongside concomitant use of injected opioids, a team of researchers in Ontario, Canada, has found.