CARDIOPROGRESS
Foundation for the advancement of cardiology

Balloon Angioplasty Plus Medical Management for sICAS. Study Adding balloon angioplasty to aggressive medical management significantly lowers the risk for stroke or death in patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (sICAS), results of a new randomized clinical trial showed.

Pilot: OCT Parameter Tracks Atherosclerosis Progression The histopathological status of an atherosclerotic plaque can not only be quantified but also tracked over time by using a parameter calculated from optical coherence tomography (OCT) images, researchers from the Chinese PLA General Hospital in Beijing, China, have found.

Prehospital Cardiac Pacing Linked to High Mortality Rate in Patients With Bradycardia A recent study has found prehospital transcutaneous cardiac pacing (TCP) in patients with bradycardia to be associated with a high mortality rate of 63.4%, and TCP failure associated with increased body weight, non-bradycardic initial heart rate, and pre-TCP hypoxia.

Cardiac magnetic resonance for ventricular arrhythmias Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) allows comprehensive myocardial tissue characterisation, revealing areas of myocardial inflammation or fibrosis that may predispose to ventricular arrhythmias (VAs).

Prognostic value of plasma big endothelin-1 in patients with light chain cardiac amyloidosis Light chain cardiac amyloidosis (AL-CA) is associated with a high incidence of mortality. Big endothelin-1 (ET-1), the precursor of endothelial-vasoconstrictive ET-1, is closely related to the concentration of bioactive ET-1. Association between big ET-1 and prognosis of AL-CA has not yet been documented. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of big ET-1 for poor outcomes in moderate to severe AL-CA.

Could Baseline MRIs Reshape Prostate Cancer Risk Assessment? Adding baseline MRI to conventional prostate cancer risk stratification could improve prognostic accuracy, potentially affecting active surveillance and treatment decisions for some patients, according to the investigators on a new trial.

Untreated Hypertension Tied to Alzheimer's Disease Risk Older adults with untreated hypertension have a 36% increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) compared with those without hypertension and a 42% increased risk for AD compared with those with treated hypertension.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation outcome in adults with acute respiratory distress An increased death risk is associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome. For patients with advanced respiratory and circulatory problems, ECMO provides temporary heart and lung replacement as well as breathing support.

Comparison of the age of cardiovascular diseases among military personnel with other occupational groups Military personnel, as one of the most essential occupational groups, are at a risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. This study compared military personnel with other occupational groups regarding the age at which they developed cardiovascular diseases and hospitalization due to these diseases.

Automatic detection of cardiac conditions from photos of electrocardiogram captured by smartphones Researchers have developed machine learning-based ECG diagnostic algorithms that match or even surpass cardiologist level of performance. However, most of them cannot be used in real-world, as older generation ECG machines do not permit installation of new algorithms.

New Pediatric CPR Guidelines: Key Updates for Clinicians More than 7,000 community-acquired cardiac arrests occur in the United States each year. New methods are aimed at restoring breathing, clearing clogged airways and improving survival.

Upcoming Joint Guidelines to Address Obesity Management Upcoming evidence-based clinical guidelines from three obesity organizations will address US-based pharmacologic management of overweight/obesity and its complications in adults.

New Marker of Cardiovascular Risk Discovered in T2D A significant quantity of dysfunctional monocytes appears to indicate poor cardiovascular prognosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.

New Score Predicts Risk for Death on Heart Transplant List Allocation score, called the US candidate risk score (US-CRS), outperformed the current therapy-based 6-status system in rank ordering heart transplant candidates by medical urgency.

Near-Death Experiences During CPR: An Impetus for Better Care If someone has been in cardiac arrest for 10 minutes, the brain is permanently damaged and there's nothing to do, right? Not so according to emerging evidence that suggests that the brain shows signs of electrical recovery for as long as an hour into ongoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This time between cardiac arrest and awakening can be a period of vivid experiences for the dying patient before they return to life — a phenomenon known as "recalled death."

Novel Biomarkers for Aortic Stenosis Identified A new analysis that used plasma proteomics, cardiac imaging, and event surveillance of participants in a longitudinal cohort study identified 52 circulating proteins with significant links to aortic valve (AV) hemodynamics and the risk for AV-related hospitalizations. Two of these biomarkers had particularly robust associations.

Recommendations for magnetic resonance imaging in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices Over the last several decades, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has become the diagnostic modality of choice for several conditions, cardiac and non-cardiac. However, MR uses a static magnetic field, gradient magnetic fields and pulsed radiofrequency energy, all of which may interact with metallic and electronic components within the field. As such, patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) have traditionally been precluded from MR imaging given the potential harm from mechanical force and torque, heating and tissue damage, unwanted myocardial stimulation or electrical reset.

Cancer Identified as a New Cardiovascular Risk Factor A history of cancer is an independent predictor of major cardiovascular events in patients undergoing coronary angioplasty. Cancer should be considered a new cardiovascular risk factor in primary and secondary prevention.

Management of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a disease characterised by fibrofatty replacement of the ventricular myocardium due to specific mutations, leading to ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Treating this condition can be challenging due to progressive fibrosis, phenotypic variations and small patient cohorts limiting the feasibility of conducting meaningful clinical trials.

Mortality Still Significant in High-Risk PE Despite Advances 1 in 5 patients with high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) and more than 2 in 5 with catastrophic PE with hemodynamic collapse die in the hospital, a large contemporary analysis showed.