Archive for cardiac research
Healing hearts under a watchful eye
Cardiac surgery is performed using visual landmarks inside the heart. There are specialized conduction tissues that run underneath the surface, which are important for the heart’s rhythmic beating. Cardiac surgeons operate with these landmarks in mind to avoid injury to conduction tissue, but locating these tissues can be challenging. Fiberoptic confocal microscopy technology inside the ... Read More
Tissue models and a gene therapy for a deadly heart arrhythmia
Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a leading cause of sudden death from cardiac arrest in children and young adults. Marked by racing, irregular heartbeats, the inherited arrhythmia is typically silent until a child suddenly collapses and faints, at an average age of 12. The trigger is an adrenaline surge, caused by exercise or emotional ... Read More
Trial shows chemotherapy is helping kids live with pulmonary vein stenosis
Pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) is a rare disease in which abnormal cells build up inside the veins responsible for carrying oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart. It restricts blood flow through these vessels, eventually sealing them off entirely if left untreated. Typically affecting young children, the most severe form of PVS progresses very quickly ... Read More
Using newborns’ own umbilical cords as shunts for heart surgery
Cardiac surgery is reducing the use of plastic — starting with an operation for newborns who have life-threatening heart disease generally called single ventricle. Single ventricle is so dangerous because it means only one of the heart’s two ventricles can adequately pump blood. Typically, affected infants undergo open-heart surgery to receive a Blalock shunt, which ... Read More