When Carrying Out Cardiac Surgery, Surgically Treat Atrial Fibrillation, Study Indicates
A recent study carried out by Northwestern Medicine researchers and reported in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery found that patients with abnormal heart rhythm ( atrial fibrillation or A-fib) who have cardiac surgery, have a lower long-term survival rate than those whose hearts beat normal (in sinus rhythm). The findings also indicate that by successfully treating A-fib during previously planned cardiac surgery, surgeons can level out their patients' survival rate to that of someone who never had A-fib.
Finding In Arginine Paradox Study Translates Into Treatment For Teen
In the spring of 2010, Baylor College of Medicine's Dr. Brendan Lee received a desperate email from the mother of one of his patients. The teen - who had been Lee's patient for most of his life - was in hypertensive crisis and none of the usual treatments could bring his blood pressure down to normal. His heart was enlarged and not pumping well - a problem called cardiomyopathy that was the result of more than a decade of difficult-to-control high blood pressure. Finding the solution to the disorder plaguing now 17-year-old Jonathan Oliphint was a long quest that Lee, a professor of molecular and human genetics at BCM, undertook when he first saw him as a young child in the metabolic clinic at Texas Children's Hospital.
Improving Understanding Of The Interaction Between Blood Flow And Heart Health
Clogging of pipes leading to the heart is the planet's number one killer. Surgeons can act as medical plumbers to repair some blockages, but we don't fully understand how this living organ deteriorates or repairs itself over time. Researchers at the University of Washington have studied vessel walls and found the cells pull more tightly together, reducing vascular leakage, in areas of fast-flowing blood. The finding could influence how doctors design drugs to treat high cholesterol, or how cardiac surgeons plan their procedures.