Approximately 6-20% of patients with severe sepsis develop new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF). Although the risks of chronic AF are well documented, the relationship between new-onset AF in the setting of sepsis and prognosis has not previously been well studied, partly due to the complex nature of this group of patients. […]
Latest articles
Clinical Trials in CPR
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a common and lethal problem, with an estimated 330,000 deaths each year in North America alone. Even in those cases where help arrives in a timely fashion, outcomes remain dismal with estimates of survival to hospital discharge ranging from 3.0% to 16.3%. Compounding the situation is the difficulty associated with conducting […]
Ambulatory BP Monitoring Cost-Effective
Affecting a billion people, hypertension is the cardiovascular risk factor associated with the highest mortality worldwide. There are well-documented problems in the detection of hypertension, as it varies throughout the day and in response to various stimuli. Out-of-office options have been developed that monitor blood pressure either at home or whilst ambulatory, and have been […]
Rocket AF – rivaroxaban shows efficacy
While warfarin has served as the oral anticoagulant of choice for decades, its time in widespread clinical use may finally be drawing to a close. A variety of new agents are in late stage development which hold several advantages: fewer interactions with other drugs, no need for therapeutic drug monitoring, and simpler dosing regimes. […]
Bicuspid aortic valves and aortic disease
Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital heart defect, affecting 1.3% of the population. Although it is now well recognised that having a bicuspid aortic valve can lead to early valve dysfunction, the association between BAV and aortic pathology has remained less clear. […]
Cardiac biomarkers and prognosis in COPD
Cardiovascular disease is common in patients with COPD with the two conditions often being linked by the common aetiology of smoking. Moreover, dysfunction in one organ system can transmit to the other with severe hypoxemia, pulmonary hypertension, and systemic inflammation all potentially impacting on cardiac function. However, the interplay between lung and cardiac disease is […]
Stroke following CABG and long term outcomes
Stroke is a potentially devastating complication following cardiothoracic surgery with a reported incidence of between 2 and 10%. While numerous risk factors have been described for stroke, little data are available regarding its temporal relationship to the surgical procedure and whether this predicts long term outcomes. […]
Drug-eluting stents superior for saphenous vein graft lesions
Whilst there has been an increase in the number of coronary artery bypassing graft (CABG) operations performed using internal mammary arteries, the majority are still performed using saphenous vein grafts. These vessels are more prone to occlusion, and treatment of this accounts for a significant proportion of all percutaneous intervention (6%). […]
Operator Experience Influences Carotid Stenting Outcomes
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first carotid stenting system in 2004, and since then the use of the procedure has steadily increased in America. However, carotid stenting is a technically demanding procedure, and several studies have noted a significant learning curve for operators performing the procedure. This study investigated the experience […]
High Residual Platelet Reactivity Predicts Future Cardiovascular Events
With the increased use of platelet function testing, high residual platelet reactivity (HRPR) has been found to associate with a high risk of ischaemic events following percutaenous coronary intervention (PCI). However, few data exist for patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). To this end, the Responsiveness to Clopidogrel and Stent Thrombosis 2-ACS (RECLOSE 2-ACS) study […]