PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Implanted heart device linked to increased survival

2014-06-03
(Press-News.org) DURHAM, N.C. -- Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are associated with improved survival among heart failure patients whose left ventricles only pump 30 to 35 percent of blood out of the heart with each contraction, according to a study from the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

The findings, published in the June 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, support existing recommendations to implant ICDs in patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) – a measurement of how much blood is squeezed out of the heart – of 35 percent or lower.

"Our findings fill an important gap in knowledge, as most randomized clinical trials of ICDs include heart failure patients with a median LVEF of well below 30 percent," said Sana Al-Khatib, M.D., MHS, the study's lead investigator and associate professor of medicine at Duke.

"Given that a large number ICDs are implanted in patients with a LVEF between 30 to 35 percent, understanding outcomes in such patients is important."

ICDs are small devices implanted in the chest to monitor the heart's rhythm and deliver small electrical pulses or shocks to help treat life-threatening heart rhythm disorders. Previous clinical trials have shown that ICDs are the best therapy currently available to prevent sudden cardiac death in patients with heart failure.

The researchers found that survival of heart failure patients with a LVEF of 30 to 35 percent was significantly improved in those with ICDs versus those without ICDs. Three-year mortality rates dropped from 55 percent to 51.4 percent when an ICD was implanted.

Similarly, ICDs were associated with increased survival among heart failure patients with a LVEF of less than 30 percent, with three-year mortality rates dropping from 57.6 percent to 45 percent with ICD use.

Joint guidelines from the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association recommend using ICDs to prevent sudden cardiac death in select patients with a LVEF of 35 percent or less. The American College of Cardiology defines a normal heart's LVEF as 50 to 70 percent, while a measurement below 50 percent may be a sign of dysfunction or heart failure.

To better understand outcomes among heart failure patients with a LVEF of 30 to 35 percent, the researchers studied the National Cardiovascular Data Registry, intended to track primary prevention ICDs implanted in Medicare beneficiaries, making it the largest repository of ICD implants in the United States. They compared individuals in the registry with heart failure patients in the Get With the Guidelines-Heart Failure database who also had a LVEF of 30 to 35 percent but did not have ICDs.

The researchers compared all-cause mortality among those with and without ICDs, looking at a total of 3,120 patients with a LVEF of 30 to 35 percent. The analysis was repeated in 4,578 patients with a LVEF of less than 30 percent.

"Until now, the association between the ICD and improved outcomes in patients with a LVEF of 30 to 35 percent was largely implied," Al-Khatib said. "Our results support current guidelines to implant prophylactic ICDs in patients with a LVEF of 35 percent or lower."

INFORMATION: In addition to Al-Khatib, Duke study authors include Anne Hellkamp, Daniel Mark, Lesley Curtis, Adrian Hernandez, Kevin Anstrom, Eric Peterson, Gillian Sanders, Hussein Al-Khalidi and Bradley Hammill. Gregg Fonarow of the University of California, Los Angeles; Paul Heidenreich of Stanford University and Palo Alto Veteran's Health Care System; and Stephen Hammill of Mayo Clinic also contributed to the research.

The National Health, Lung, and Blood Institute funded the study (1R01-HL093071-01A1).



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

High risk of recurrence of 2 life-threatening adverse drug reactions

2014-06-03
Individuals who are hospitalized for the skin conditions of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis appear to have a high risk of recurrence, according to a study in the June 4 issue of JAMA. Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are life-threatening conditions that develop primarily as responses to drugs, and result in extensive epidermal detachment (upper layers of the skin detach from the lower layers). Recurrence has been reported in isolated cases, and the overall risk of recurrence has been unknown, according to background ...

Outcomes for older adults with pneumonia who receive treatment including azithromycin

2014-06-03
In a study that included nearly 65,000 older patients hospitalized with pneumonia, treatment that included azithromycin compared with other antibiotics was associated with a significantly lower risk of death and a slightly increased risk of heart attack, according to a study in the June 4 issue of JAMA. Pneumonia and influenza together are the eighth leading cause of death and the leading causes of infectious death in the United States. Although clinical practice guidelines recommend combination therapy with macrolides (a class of antibiotics), including azithromycin, ...

Preventive placement of ICDs for less severe heart failure may improve survival

2014-06-03
An examination of the benefit of preventive placement of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in patients with a less severe level of heart failure, a group not well represented in clinical trials, finds significantly better survival at three years than that of similar patients with no ICD, according to a study in the June 4 issue of JAMA. Although clinical trials have established the ICD as the best currently available therapy to prevent sudden cardiac death in patients with heart failure, some uncertainties remain regarding preventive use of ICDs in patients ...

Study: New test predicts if breast cancer will spread

Study: New test predicts if breast cancer will spread
2014-06-03
June 3, 2014 – BRONX, NY – The study was led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI)─designated Albert Einstein Cancer Center of Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care and was published online today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI). "Tests assessing metastatic risk can help doctors identify which patients should receive aggressive therapy and which patients should be spared," said Thomas Rohan, M.D., Ph.D., the lead and corresponding author of the study and professor ...

Deeper than ancestry.com, 'EvoCor' identifies gene relationships

Deeper than ancestry.com, EvoCor identifies gene relationships
2014-06-03
A frontier lies deep within our cells. Our bodies are as vast as oceans and space, composed of a dizzying number of different types of cells. Exploration reaches far, yet the genes that make each cell and tissue unique have remained largely obscure. That's changing with the help of a team led by Gregorio Valdez, an assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. Valdez and his team designed a search engine – called EvoCor – that identifies genes that are functionally linked. The name, a portmanteau of "evolution" and "correlation," points to ...

New definition of kidney disease for clinical trials could lead to new treatments

2014-06-03
A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that new therapies for kidney disease could be developed more quickly by revising the definition of kidney disease progression used during clinical trials. If adopted, the new definition could shorten the length of some clinical trials and also potentially encourage more clinical trials in kidney disease. The findings will be published in the June 3, 2014 online edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide public health ...

2-D transistors promise a faster electronics future

2-D transistors promise a faster electronics future
2014-06-03
Faster electronic device architectures are in the offing with the unveiling of the world's first fully two-dimensional field-effect transistor (FET) by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Unlike conventional FETs made from silicon, these 2D FETs suffer no performance drop-off under high voltages and provide high electron mobility, even when scaled to a monolayer in thickness. Ali Javey, a faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division and a UC Berkeley professor of electrical engineering and computer science, led ...

Investigating unusual three-ribbon solar flares with extreme high resolution

2014-06-03
The 1.6 meter telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) in California has given researchers unparalleled capability for investigating phenomena such as solar flares. Operated by New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), the BBSO instrument is the most powerful ground-based telescope dedicated to studying the star closest to Earth. On June 2, Distinguished Professor of Physics Haimin Wang joined NJIT colleagues at the 224th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), held in Boston, Massachusetts, to present intriguing data about solar flares — specifically, ...

Solving sunspot mysteries

2014-06-03
Multi-wavelength observations of sunspots with the 1.6-meter telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) in California and aboard NASA's IRIS spacecraft have produced new and intriguing images of high-speed plasma flows and eruptions extending from the Sun's surface to the outermost layer of the solar atmosphere, the corona. Operated by New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), BBSO houses the largest ground-based telescope dedicated to solar research. On June 2, NJIT researchers reported on the acquisition of these images at the 224th meeting of the American Astronomical ...

Complex neural circuitry keeps you from biting your tongue

Complex neural circuitry keeps you from biting your tongue
2014-06-03
DURHAM, N.C. -- Eating, like breathing and sleeping, seems to be a rather basic biological task. Yet chewing requires a complex interplay between the tongue and jaw, with the tongue positioning food between the teeth and then moving out of the way every time the jaw clamps down to grind it up. If the act weren't coordinated precisely, the unlucky chewer would end up biting more tongue than burrito. Duke University researchers have used a sophisticated tracing technique in mice to map the underlying brain circuitry that keeps mealtime relatively painless. The study, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

[Press-News.org] Implanted heart device linked to increased survival