Diabetes, Heart Failure and Beyond: Elucidating the Cardioprotective Mechanisms of Sodium Glucose Cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) Inhibitors.

Approximately 5 million individuals in the US are living with congestive heart failure (CHF), with 650,000 new cases being diagnosed every year. CHF has a multifactorial etiology, ranging from coronary artery disease, hypertension, valvular abnormalities and diabetes mellitus. Currently, guidelines by the American College of Cardiology advocate the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers, β-blockers, diuretics, aldosterone antagonists, and inotropes for the medical management of heart failure.

Exercise-Induced Sustained Ventricular Tachycardia without Structural Heart Disease: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND Exercise-induced ventricular tachycardia (VT) has been widely reported in patients with preexisting structural heart disease or underlying ischemia and is attributed to reentry tachycardia and abnormal automaticity. However, studies regarding exercise-induced VT in individuals without evident structural heart disease are still limited. CASE REPORT A 51-year-old woman came to our practice for a treadmill stress echocardiogram.

A Late Case of Ischemic Cerebral Event after Resection of a Left Atrial Myxoma.

Atrial myxoma is one of the most common primary cardiac tumors reported in the literature. In very rare instances, stroke has been the sequelae after a myxomatous tumor resection. We report this unique case of late ischemic cerebral event in a 46-year-old female some days after resection of a left atrial myxoma.

Cardiovascular Disease urban intervention: baseline activities and findings.

Regular exercise, good dietary habits, knowledge of the disease and its warning signs as well as ability to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) are all important to prevent and combat Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) and Stroke. In 2005-2006, an AHA sponsored "Search Your Heart" cardiovascular disease intervention was conducted in 388 urban African-American/black and Latino/Hispanic faith based institutions, all churches of various denominations, to improve members' knowledge and preparedness about CVD and stroke. The intervention involved (a) distribution of a customized multi-component CVD and stroke related educational and skill development package to 388 "ambassadors" for all participating churches, (b) AHA staff coordinated educational sessions for the ambassadors and (c) 211 Ambassadors coordinating the conduct of at least one CVD educational activities in their churches.

Acute coronary syndrome critical pathway: chest PAIN caremap: a qualitative research study--provider-level intervention.

Recently published data on healthcare performance continue to show a substantial gap between evidence-based guidelines and management of patients in real-world settings. This article describes an operational model that will be used to test whether a critical pathway applied in a secondary care-level institution may improve the process of care related to acute coronary syndromes (ACS). We have developed the pathway for management of all patients who present to our emergency department with a chief complaint of acute chest pain.

The PAIN pathway as a tool to bridge the gap between evidence and management of acute coronary syndrome.

Clinical guidelines on the management of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) have consistently shown a major gap between the guidelines and their application in the actual management of ACS. In an attempt to achieve the goal of bridging the gap between these evidence-based guidelines and patient management, we have reorganized the pathway for the management of ACS at our institution. The pathway has been designated with the acronym of PAIN (Priority risk, Advanced risk, Intermediate risk, and Negative/Low risk), to reflect patients risk stratification upon admission.

Effect of the novel direct factor Xa inhibitor DX-9065a on thrombin generation and inhibition among patients with stable atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.

Introduction: Thrombin, a pluripotential effector enzyme with prothrombotic, proinflammatory, and mitogenic properties, plays a pivotal role in the pathobiology and clinical expression of atherothrombotic coronary artery disease. Existing anticoagulant drugs have not been shown to attenuate thrombin generation or activity consistently. We sought to investigate the effect of DX-9065a on thrombin generation and inhibition in patients with stable CAD.

Glycoprotein receptor inhibitors in the management of acute coronary syndromes.

Coronary thrombosis and the risk of clinical adverse events remains high despite considerable advances in the management of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) with the combined use of aspirin, heparin, fibrinolytic therapy, and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Platelet aggregation and thrombosis play a key role in the pathogenesis of unstable coronary syndromes. Over the past several years, multiple placebo-controlled trials involving more than 50,000 ACS patients have shown that blockade of the platelet receptor glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa, the final pathway in platelet aggregation, reduces the incidence of ischemic complications among patients with ACS.