Cardiology General
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Detecting Left Ventricular Thrombi
A study of early post-ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients who underwent echocardiographic testing and cardiac MRI showed echo misses about two-thirds of cardiac MRI-discovered left ventricular thrombi. However, an echo apical wall motion score can identify most patients in whom echo may miss thrombi for the selective use of cardiac MRI.
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Influenza Vaccination May Temporarily Aid Cardiovascular Event Prevention
Researchers studied English patients with an acute cardiovascular event who received an influenza vaccine in the same 12-month period and compared that to the 120-day period after vaccination and the rest of the year. They observed those vaccinated were less likely to experience an acute cardiovascular event for 120 days after vaccine vs. the rest of the year.
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Valve Replacement Risk and Lifetime Management of Aortic Valve Disease
The authors of an analysis of more than 31,000 patients from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ database identified patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) after prior transcutaneous AVR (TAVR) or SAVR. SAVR after TAVR raised the risk of mortality vs. SAVR after SAVR.
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Does One Negative Troponin Measurement Rule Out Acute Coronary Syndrome?
Using a common clinical chest pain algorithm plus a point-of-care troponin measurement for low-risk patients, researchers reported significantly lower healthcare costs. Also, this approach did not seem to result in more major adverse cardiovascular events.
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How to Diagnose ATTR Cardiac Amyloidosis
A retrospective study of patients with confirmed cardiac amyloidosis showed negative light chain biomarkers and a typical pattern of cardiac amyloid on cardiac MRI was highly specific for the diagnosis of the transthyretin subtype and may obviate the need for further testing before starting treatment.
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Surgical Risk of Mitral Valve Repair, Updated
A contemporary update of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons risk calculator for operative mortality and morbidity in nonemergent primary mitral valve repair for regurgitation shows an operative mortality rate of 1.2%, with a conversion to replacement of 6%, in more than 53,000 patients.
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Considering Periodontal Disease as a Risk Factor of Cardiovascular Disease
Researchers used data from the 2013 to 2014 period of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to study possible connections between poor oral health and the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease.
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Outcomes for Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair for Functional Mitral Regurgitation
Researchers analyzed transcutaneous mitral valve repair in patients with moderate-to-severe or worse mitral valve regurgitation caused by cardiomyopathy and heart failure despite maximally tolerated guideline-directed medical therapy. Compared to medical therapy alone, undergoing repair resulted in fewer heart failure and other cardiovascular disease hospitalizations and significantly more time free of hospitalization and death.
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Is Screening for Atrial Fibrillation Cost Effective?
Self-screening for atrial fibrillation in elderly individuals could lead to lower stroke rates, prevent bleeding-related hospitalizations, and save money.
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Triglyceride-Lowering Therapy and Cardiovascular Events
Researchers studied pemafibrate vs. placebo in patients with type 2 diabetes, mild-to-moderate triglyceride elevations, and low levels of HDL and well-controlled LDL cholesterol. Despite a 31% reduction in triglyceride levels, there was no improvement in the risk of cardiovascular outcomes over a median follow-up of 3.4 years.