CARDIOPROGRESS
Foundation for the advancement of cardiology

Intense Exercise May Be Risky in Moderate to Severe Stenosis Intense exercise may increase stroke risk among patients with moderate or severe stenosis, new research suggests.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness Linked to Cancer Risk, Mortality? Higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) may offer protection from colon and lung cancer and from lung and prostate cancer mortality among men, a large Swedish cohort study suggests.

Women With Atrial Fibrillation More Likely to Develop Dementia New data suggest a significantly stronger link in women compared with men between atrial fibrillation (AF) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.

Ventilatory Efficiency Impaired in Hypertension Patients with hypertension have elevated VE/VCO2 slope compared with age-matched normotensive controls, indicating ventilatory inefficiency during exercise. VE/VCO2 slopes may help identify increased cardiac risk in patients with hypertension.

Support for Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Repair: Mini Mitral Published The UK Mini Mitral trial, showing that mitral valve repair with the less invasive minithoracotomy approach achieved similar outcomes compared with sternotomy, has now been published.

Frailty Linked to Lower Use of Guideline Treatments in HFrEF Physical frailty is significantly associated with reduced prescribing of guideline-recommended drugs in heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction.

More Rehospitalizations for Younger Women 1-Year Post-MI Younger women (those aged 18-55) have more adverse outcomes than men in the year after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and are at greater risk for both cardiac and noncardiac rehospitalizations, a new analysis of the VIRGO study suggests.

LAA Closure Outcomes Improve With CCTA: Swiss-Apero Subanalysis The largest multicenter randomized trial to date of CT angiography before left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) to treat atrial fibrillation has added to the evidence that the imaging technique on top of transesophageal echocardiography achieves a higher degree of short- and long-term success than TEE alone.

Up to 60% of stroke survivors may develop cognitive decline within a year Up to 60% of all stroke survivors develop memory and thinking problems within a year, and one-third go on to develop dementia within five years.

Risk of rehospitalization in younger women after heart attack nearly double that of men Women aged 55 years and younger have nearly double the risk of rehospitalization in the year immediately after a heart attack compared to men of similar age, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

ECG Deep-Learning Algorithm Predicts Mortality Post Surgery Algorithm interpreting preoperative ECGs can identify risk for postoperative death in those undergoing cardiac surgery, noncardiac surgery, and interventional procedures, a large new study showed. The algorithm was more effective in identifying high-risk patients who went on to experience postoperative mortality than a widely used risk tool.

FDA Approves First Pulsed Field Ablation System for AF The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the PulseSelect Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) System (Medtronic) for the treatment of both paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation (AF), the manufacturer has announced.

Celebrate World Health Day 2023 and WHO 75th Anniversary On World Health Day, 7 April 2023, the World Health Organization celebrates its 75th anniversary.In 1948, countries of the world came together and founded WHO to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable, so everyone, everywhere can attain the highest level of health and well-being. 

AHA Issues Advice on Incidentally Identified CVD Gene Variants The American Heart Association (AHA) has issued guidance on how to handle genetic tests that unexpectedly find gene variants associated with inherited cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Does New Heart Transplant Method Challenge Definition of Death? The relatively recent innovation of heart transplantation after circulatory death of the donor is increasing the number of donor hearts available and leading to many more lives on the heart transplant waiting list being saved. Experts agree it's a major and very welcome advance in medicine.

Spanish company closes a financing round of one million euros Spanish Company a spin-off from the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), the UPC and the University of Barcelona (UB), has successfully closed a funding round led by Grow Ventures together with Namarel Ventures and Inveniam Group where they have secured more than one million euros.

Insomnia, Short Sleep Linked to Greater Risk for MI Insomnia — difficulty falling or staying asleep — was associated with a 69% greater risk of having a myocardial infarction (MI) than among adults without insomnia, according to new research.

New ACC, AHA, SCAI Interventional Cardiology Training Guidance The American College of Cardiology (ACC), the American Heart Association (AHA), and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) have jointly issued new guidance outlining competency-based advanced training requirements for interventional cardiology trainees.

Guidance for PCI Without Onsite Surgical Backup Updated The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions has issued an updated expert consensus statement to provide clearer guidance on what percutaneous coronary angioplasty cases can be done in outpatient settings such as ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and office-based laboratories and which are best left to more traditional settings, such as hospitals with full cardiac support.

3 challenges to watch in global health in 2023 For the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, people working in the infectious diseases and global health spheres were largely focused on the new disease. In 2022, however, gears shifted. Covid didn’t go away, but diseases like flu that had been held in abeyance by the new virus and the measures we used to slow its spread — well, they’re baaack. From late summer onward in the United States, hospitals have been packed with people sick with one respiratory illness or another.