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New technique identifies ‘hot’ disease in arteries that can lead to CV events

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Using noninvasive 18F-sodium fluoride PET and coronary CTA to detect “hot” disease in arteries, researchers were able to predict which patients with recent MI would have recurrent coronary events.

PET “is often used in cancer; it uses positrons to produce a signal so you can see externally the biology of what’s going on in the body without inserting catheters,” David E. Newby, MD, British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiology at the University of Edinburgh, U.K., said during a press conference at the European Society of Cardiology Congress. 
Read the full story in Healio.

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World’s First HIV+ to HIV+ Heart Transplant Performed

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For the first time, a heart from a donor with HIV has been transplanted into a recipient living with HIV, according to Montefiore Health System in New York City, where the transplant was performed.

Such a transplant was made possible by passage of the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act in 2013, but it took nearly 9 years to see the first successful transplant.
Read the full story in Medscape.

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Myocarditis risk ‘significantly higher’ with COVID-19 vs. vaccination

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Data from a large cohort in England suggest that risk for myocarditis, while small overall, is significantly higher after SARS-CoV-2 infection in unvaccinated individuals vs. after COVID-19 vaccination, researchers reported.

In an analysis of more than 42 million vaccinated children and adults, researchers also found that although the risk for myocarditis with SARS-CoV-2 infection remained after vaccination, it was “substantially reduced,” suggesting vaccination provides some protection from the CV consequences of SARS-CoV-2. Read the full story in Healio.

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Racial and Ethnic Disparities After Stroke in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients

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Black pediatric cardiac transplant recipients experience perioperative stroke less frequently than White pediatric cardiac transplant recipients. Mortality among the survivors of perioperative stroke is initially similar, but after 6 months these Black children experience more than 3 times the mortality rate of the White children. These are among the study findings published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers sought to evaluate racial and ethnic differences in occurrence of stroke following cardiac transplant and all-cause mortality after perioperative stroke in pediatric cardiac transplant recipients.  Read the full story in CardiologyAdvisor.

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Two Times 200: Heart & Lung Transplant Programs Surpass 200th Transplant Milestones

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Rise in Volume Is Accompanied by Outstanding Outcomes for Patients

In early 2018, the NYU Langone Transplant Institute launched two ambitious programs. The new heart transplant team gave its first patient her life back early that year. The lung transplant program, the third of its kind in the New York City metro area, began that February, making NYU Langone Health one of the most comprehensive transplant centers in the region.

A little more than 4 years later, both programs have reached an impressive milestone, logging more than 200 heart transplants and more than 200 lung transplants. Read more from the NYU Langone Health News Hub.

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Cardiac rehab score predicts event risk at 1 year

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Exercise performance during cardiac rehabilitation, scored with a novel index, can reliably predict CV event risk at 1 year, according to data from a single-center study.

“Participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program is essential to improving patients’ survival and quality of life following myocardial infarction or heart surgery and for patients with HF,” Ofir Koren, MD, FESC, an interventional cardiology fellow with the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Smidt Heart Institute and a senior interventional cardiologist with Emek Medical Center in Afula, Israel, told Healio. Read more in Healio.

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More steps improve CV risk factors, but effects vary by sex

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Smartphone-recorded steps over 2 years were linked to positive changes in CVD risk factors but varied between men and women, researchers reported in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

“This is a well-powered observational study showing the value of smartphone-recorded steps,” Rikuta Hamaya, MD, MSc, from the division of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told Healio. “Although further research is needed, this study suggests a useful role of smartphone‐recorded steps for monitoring cardiovascular disease risk over the long term.” Read the full story in Healio.

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Mass General Ranked Among the Top U.S. Heart Transplant Programs Despite COVID-19 Challenges

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In 2021, the MGH Transplant Center completed 43 heart transplants – the hospital’s third-highest annual transplant volume in the program’s history despite challenges driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. This success was reflected in this year’s Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients’ list of national transplant program outcomes, with Mass General having one of the best overall performances in the U.S.

“The transplant program has grown significantly over the past five years,” says Greg Lewis, MD, medical director of the Cardiac Transplantation Program. “We now perform about 1% of the international volume here at Mass General.”
Read more from Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Salt substitutes consistently beneficial for BP, survival, CV events

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Salt substitutes consistently improved BP and lowered risk for mortality, CV mortality and CV events, according to a meta-analysis published in Heart.

“These findings are unlikely to reflect the play of chance and support the adoption of salt substitutes in clinical practice and public health policy as a strategy to reduce dietary sodium intake, increase dietary potassium intake, lower blood pressure and prevent major cardiovascular events,” the researchers wrote. Read more in Healio.

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