Nursing home residents who received beta blockers after an acute MI had a 26 percent relative reduction in 90-day mortality, according to a cohort study.

Adults who participated in a program that screens patients for unmet basic needs such as food, medication, housing and transportation had significant improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol levels, although they had no improvement in their blood glucose level.

Centurion recalled 1,000 of its convenience kits containing Multi-Med single lumen catheters, according to an FDA news release on Dec. 9.

After adjusting for multiple variables, an observational study found that every 10 mm Hg increase in systolic blood pressure was associated with a 12 percent increased mortality risk and a 7 percent greater risk of heart failure hospitalizations among black adults.

Northwestern University’s cardiology department and cardiothoracic surgery programs have jumped from No. 25 to No. 6 in the U.S. News and World Report ranking in just six years. Cardiovascular Business spoke with the department's head, Clyde W. Yancy, MD, about successes in his division, what consequences could be looming in light of MACRA and what advice he has for his peers.

In 2015, the age-adjusted death rates increased 0.9 percent for heart disease and 3 percent for stroke compared with 2014, according to a Centers of Disease Control and Prevention report released on Dec. 8.

After adjusting for physical and psychiatric illness, patients in Taiwan with an acute coronary syndrome had increased odds of suicide, according to a case-referent study. The odds of suicide were highest during the six months following an acute coronary syndrome and remained high for at least four years.

Adults who smoked between one and 10 cigarettes per day had 1.5 times the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared to those who never smoked, according to a prospective cohort study. Smokers also had more than six times the risk of dying from respiratory diseases such as emphysema.