Heart Rhythm

Hearts should have normal rhythm to their beats, but when these beats are out of synch, it causes inefficient pumping of blood. Irregular heart arrhythmias occur when the electrical signals that coordinate the heart's beats do not work properly. This can cause beats that are too fast (tachycardia), or too slow (bradycardia). Tachycardias include atrial fibrillation (AFib), supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia (VT). Bradycardias include sick sinus syndrome and conduction block. Electrophysiology arrhythmia treatments include medications, life style changes, and the EP lab interventions of catheter ablation, and implantable pacemakers or defibrillators.

AFib meds could elevate risk of fainting, falling

Medications used to treat atrial fibrillation—namely amiodarone—could increase older patients’ risk of fainting and falling, Danish researchers have found.

July 29, 2019

Former NFL athletes see elevated risk of AFib

Despite lower risks for other CVD risk factors, former National Football League players are nearly six times more likely than their non-NFL peers to develop atrial fibrillation, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

July 24, 2019
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Chemicals in plastic medical devices could interfere with cardiac electrophysiology

Heart patients exposed to phthalates—a group of chemicals used as plasticizers in the manufacture of plastic medical products—during invasive procedures may be at risk for serious electrophysiological abnormalities, according to a new study.

July 22, 2019

‘Electrocardiomatrix’ beats standard methods of detecting AFib in stroke units

Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed technology that flags stroke victims at the greatest risk for atrial fibrillation after an event, trumping standard methods of risk stratification to achieve greater accuracy.

July 18, 2019

Edoxaban, warfarin equally effective for reducing adverse events in AFib patients with liver disease

Edoxaban and warfarin are equally effective in reducing the risk of stroke, systemic embolic events and major bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation and a history of liver disease, researchers reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology this month.

July 15, 2019
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The Rise of Wearables: What Experts Say About Patients, Platforms & Getting Paid

Cardiologists discuss the questions and concerns swirling around the thriving wearables market as patients strap on a variety of smart devices and expect their physicians to catch up.

July 10, 2019

Black kids 41% less likely to receive bystander CPR

Black children, as well as Hispanic kids and other ethnic minorities, are less likely to receive bystander CPR during an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) than their white counterparts, according to a Journal of the American Heart Association study published July 10.

July 10, 2019
The Boston Scientific Watchman device is a transcatheter device implanted in the left atrial appendage (LAA) to seal it off so atrial fibrillation patients can got off of anticoagulant therapy.

‘A double-edged sword’: Is the Watchman device more trouble than it’s worth?

Boston Scientific’s Watchman device, an alternative to blood thinners in atrial fibrillation patients unable to take medications like warfarin, has for years been touted as a safe, effective therapy to reduce patients’ stroke risk.

July 9, 2019

Around the web

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.

Kate Hanneman, MD, explains why many vendors and hospitals want to lower radiology's impact on the environment. "Taking steps to reduce the carbon footprint in healthcare isn’t just an opportunity," she said. "It’s also a responsibility."

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