Heart Defect News and Research

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Less invasive heart treatment now available to all Australians living with aortic stenosis

All Australians living with symptoms of severe aortic stenosis no longer face open heart surgery as the only treatment option, with public access to a less invasive therapy – previously reserved for only the sickest patients – now available to all Australians requiring treatment.

26 Jun 2020

Doctoral candidate receives NIH fellowship to study how adenovirus affects heart function

A dose of adenovirus hits most people like a common cold - a cough, a fever, maybe a sore throat. But for an unfortunate few, the usually benign bug hacks the heart's cellular electrical communication system and sometimes proves fatal.

20 May 2020

AAN publishes updated practice advisory on closure of common heart defect after stroke

New guidance from the American Academy of Neurology concludes that closure of a common heart defect called a patent foramen ovale may be recommended for some people who have had a stroke.

29 Apr 2020

A broken heart for Valentine’s Day turns to healing

A broken heart for Valentine's Day sounds like the plot of a romantic comedy. But for Rebekah Holl, a literal broken heart was her reality on Feb. 14, 2019.

16 Feb 2020

Maternal stress affects fetal brain development

A new study published online January 13, 2020, in the journal JAMA Pediatrics reports that mothers who suffer severe mental stress during pregnancy may have babies with abnormal development in important areas of the brain even before birth. It is already known that babies with congenital heart disease show abnormalities in brain growth and brain biochemical reactions.

13 Jan 2020

Texas law highlights dilemma over care for patients with no hope of survival

Critically ill Tinslee Lewis - a Fort Worth baby embroiled in a dispute between her family and a hospital over whether to continue life-sustaining treatment - is the most recent public face of the heartbreaking and intractable dilemmas often confronted quietly in intensive care units.

23 Dec 2019

Changing sport restrictions for pediatric congenital heart disease patients

Historically, providers were restrictive in allowing children with congenital heart disease (CHD) to participate in youth sports, or even regular exercise.

20 Nov 2019

Rock icon receives replacement heart valve in New York City hospital

Mick Jagger owes some thanks for the fact he's alive and strutting to Ajit Yoganathan and his lab crew. In fact, millions of people do.

30 Oct 2019

β-blockers could regenerate infant heart muscle, mitigate effects of congenital heart disease

Surgery can mend congenital heart defects shortly after birth, but those babies will carry a higher risk of heart failure throughout the rest of their lives. Yet, according to a Science Translational Medicine study published today by UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh researchers, β-blockers could supplement surgery to regenerate infant heart muscle and mitigate the lasting effects of congenital heart disease.

9 Oct 2019

Men should stay alcohol-free for at least six months before conception

A new study has revealed that men hoping to conceive should stop drinking for at least six months before to prevent congenital heart diseases.

4 Oct 2019

New collaboration to advance diagnosis and prevention of congenital heart defects

The Children's Heart Foundation, the nation's leading organization dedicated to funding congenital heart research, has announced a new partnership to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of congenital heart defects.

6 Aug 2019

Maternal proximity to oil and gas areas associated with congenital heart defects in babies

Mothers living near more intense oil and gas development activity have a 40-70% higher chance of having children with congenital heart defects compared to those living in areas of less intense activity, according to a new study from researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health.

18 Jul 2019

New technology replaces the standard way to repair a hole in the heart

Rush University Medical Center is the first hospital in Chicago to use a new technology that enables specially trained physicians to use a single stitch to close an opening between the upper chambers of the heart -; a condition that is found in about one in four people, most of whom are unaware of it.

21 Jun 2019

Study finds no link between infant deaths and exposure to waste incinerators

Researchers have found no link between exposure to emissions from municipal waste incinerators and infant deaths or reduced foetal growth.

21 Jun 2019

Catheter-based valve replacement procedure safe for patients with common heart defect

A new analysis conducted by investigators at the Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute shows for the first time that patients with a common heart defect who undergo catheter-based valve replacement procedures have the same survival and complication rates as patients without the defect who undergo the same procedure.

12 Jun 2019

Minimally invasive treatment fixes hole in the heart

Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso now performs a safe and minimally invasive treatment for a heart birth defect that affects up to 25% of people.

7 Jun 2019

EuroCMR 2019 to present novel studies on clinical use of cardiovascular magnetic resonance

Novel studies from around the world showing cutting-edge clinical use of cardiovascular magnetic resonance will be presented at EuroCMR 2019, a meeting of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging, a branch of the European Society of Cardiology.

10 Apr 2019