Project description:A novel therapeutic strategy to prevent or reverse ventricular remodeling, the substrate for heart failure and arrhythmias following a myocardial infarction, is the use of cell-based therapy. Successful cell-based tissue regeneration involves a complex orchestration of cellular and molecular events that include stem cell engraftment and differentiation, secretion of anti-inflammatory and angiogenic mediators, and proliferation of endogenous cardiac stem cells. Recent therapeutic approaches involve bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells and mesenchymal stem cells, adipose tissue-derived stem cells, cardiac-derived stem cells and cell combinations. Clinical trials employing mesenchymal stem cells and cardiac- derived stem cells have demonstrated efficacy in infarct size reduction and regional wall contractility improvement. Regarding delivery methods, the safety of catheter-based, transendocardial stem cell injection has been established. These proof-of-concept studies have paved the way for ongoing pivotal trials. Future studies will focus on determining the most efficacious cell type(s) and/or cell combinations and the mechanisms underlying their therapeutic effects.
Project description:More than 33,000 cardiologists and allied medical professionals gathered in Rome to share the latest cardiac research. We review key sessions from a wide range of therapeutic areas, including anticoagulation, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia.
Project description:Type 2 diabetes is a major threat to human health in the 21st century. More than half a billion people may suffer from this pandemic disease in 2030, leading to a huge burden of cardiovascular complications. Recently, 2 novel antidiabetic agents, glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, reduced cardiovascular complications in a number of randomized control trials. To integrate new information and to achieve a streamlined process for better patient care, a working group was appointed by the Taiwan Society of Cardiology to formulate a stepwise consensus pathway for these therapies to reduce cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes. This consensus pathway is complementary to clinical guidelines, acting as a reference to improve patient care.
Project description:Background The lack of diversity in the cardiovascular physician workforce is thought to be an important driver of racial and sex disparities in cardiac care. Cardiology fellowship program directors play a critical role in shaping the cardiology workforce. Methods and Results To assess program directors' perceptions about diversity and barriers to enhancing diversity, the authors conducted a survey of 513 fellowship program directors or associate directors from 193 unique adult cardiology fellowship training programs. The response rate was 21% of all individuals (110/513) representing 57% of US general adult cardiology training programs (110/193). While 69% of respondents endorsed the belief that diversity is a driver of excellence in health care, only 26% could quote 1 to 2 references to support this statement. Sixty-three percent of respondents agreed that "our program is diverse already so diversity does not need to be increased." Only 6% of respondents listed diversity as a top 3 priority when creating the cardiovascular fellowship rank list. Conclusions These findings suggest that while program directors generally believe that diversity enhances quality, they are less familiar with the literature that supports that contention and they may not share a unified definition of "diversity." This may result in diversity enhancement having a low priority. The authors propose several strategies to engage fellowship training program directors in efforts to diversify cardiology fellowship training programs.
Project description:Congestive heart failure (HF) is a morbidity that is increasing worldwide due to the aging population and improvement in (acute) care for patients with cardiovascular diseases. The prognosis for patients with HF is very poor without treatment. Furthermore, (repeated) hospitalizations for cardiac decompensation cause an increasing economic burden. Modern drugs and the consequent implementation of therapeutic recommendations have substantially improved the morbidity and mortality of HF patients. This paper provides an overview of the current pharmacological management of HF patients, based on the 2016 guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
Project description:Cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for more deaths globally than any other single disease. There are on average 1.5 million episodes of myocardial infarction (heart attack) each year in the United States alone with roughly one-third resulting in death. There is therefore a major need for developing new and effective strategies to promote cardiac repair. Intramyocardial transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has emerged as a leading contender in the pursuit of clinical intervention and therapy. MSCs are potent mediators of cardiac repair and are therefore an attractive tool in the development of preclinical and clinical trials. MSCs are capable of secreting a large array of soluble factors, which have had demonstrated effects on pathogenic cardiac remolding, fibrosis, immune activation, and cardiac stem cell proliferation within the damaged heart. MSCs are also capable of differentiation into cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, and vascular smooth muscle cells, although the relative contribution of trilineage differentiation and paracrine effectors on cardiac repair remains the subject of active investigation.