The use of a web-based tool that estimated the probability of both acute coronary syndrome and pulmonary embolism in patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain and shortness of breath significantly reduced exposure to medical radiation and treatment costs in a study published online Nov. 25 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging.  

Addressing readmission risk from a broader perspective rather than focusing on specific conditions or time periods may be more effective at lowering readmission rates, according to a study published online Nov. 20 in BMJ.

Assessing chest pain based on female-based characteristics is not a useful diagnostic tool for an acute MI, a study published online Nov. 25 in JAMA Internal Medicine found. The accuracy of most chest pain characteristics in men and women were low overall, and the likelihood of most characteristics was similar in both sexes.

Researchers at the University of Louisville told Wired.co.uk that within a 10 years they will build a human heart using bioprinting techniques.

A New Jersey cardiologist received a 6 ½-year prison sentence and agreed to pay full restitution of $19 million in a healthcare fraud scheme.

It has been a tumultuous week with challenges to recently released prevention guidelines that target cardiovascular disease, particularly atherosclerosis. But don’t let that overshadow some important findings that may influence practice in the near and long term.

The cardiac nuclear stress test drugs regadenoson and adenosine may hold a greater MI and mortality risk in patients with signs and symptoms of unstable angina than had previously been reported, the FDA cautioned in a warning.

A preauthorization program designed to reduce inappropriate use of myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) cost cardiology practices $79,050 per 1,000 patients, an analysis presented at the American Heart Association scientific session in Dallas found.