Tim Andrews, 67, is still alive and is back on the waiting list for a human donor. However, the success of his highly experimental procedure means more patients are scheduled to get genetically modified animal organs.
A new study published in JAMA, which looked at fee-for-service Medicare records from 2013–2023, found that overall participation has trended upward. However, the details paint a complicated picture.
Research that followed patients for more than 13 years suggests increases in ECG PR interval, P‐wave duration and PTFV1 are associated with increased AFib risk in this cohort.
Andreas Ruck, MD, discussed new registry data on Boston Scientific’s Acurate neo2 TAVR valve, comparing it to popular devices from Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic.
Both operations can help obese patients lose weight, researchers noted, but gastric bypass surgery "may be associated with greater cardiovascular benefits."
Patients often develop AFib during cardiac surgery, leading to longer hospital stays, additional healthcare costs and a higher risk of mortality. Cooling the oblique sinus of the patient's heart as soon as AFib starts to develop may represent a new way to stop the problem in its tracks.
Using one of the most powerful MRI scanners to date, researchers believe they have identified subtle neural changes in the brain that precede Parkinson’s disease.
