Fewer Americans smoked or were physically inactive in 2015-16 than four years earlier, but there were also fewer on “appropriate” aspirin therapy to prevent cardiovascular events, according to a Vital Signs report released by the CDC.

Joseph D. Babb, MD—who performed the first coronary angioplasty in the state of Connecticut and was a past president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI)—has died, SCAI announced Sept. 6. He was 79.

Early discharge following TAVR is associated with fewer readmissions and similar mortality over the following 30 days compared with a standard discharge strategy, according to a meta-analysis published in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.

A peer-reviewed study published in Clinical Toxicology this week warns competitive athletes—and cardiac patients—against consuming supplements that might contain higenamine, a stimulant that’s poorly regulated and could pose a considerable threat to heart health.

Internet searches for terms related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) spiked in winter months in Australia and the United States, according to a study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The search results were consistent with previously reported seasonal variations in CVD, suggesting they could eventually be used to predict disease incidence at the population level.

Researchers at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor are funneling an estimated $45 million into a randomized controlled trial they hope will clarify the link between stroke and obstructive sleep apnea.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA)’s most recently updated guidelines for high blood pressure in adults redefined hypertension at a lower threshold, and those boundaries remain safe for patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib), according to a large-scale review published in the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Mothers or infants experienced no adverse cardiac events during 24 pregnancies completed by women who had undergone an arterial switch operation, according to a single-center, retrospective study published online Sept. 5 in JAMA Cardiology.