http://www.pennmedicine.org/news The latest news about Cardiovascular Medicine and Surgery from Penn Medicine - the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Health System. en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss robert.press@uphs.upenn.edu (Robert Press) 2011, The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania http://www.pennhealth.com/images/pennmedicine_logo.jpg http://www.pennmedicine.org/news Minorities and women suffering from a stroke may be less likely to receive the clot-busting treatment tPA, known as tissue plasminogen activator, according to a new study from Penn Medicine and other institutions published today in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.  http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2016/09/messe/ Wed, 14 Sep 2016 20:00:00 GMT A receptor protein that is the target of the breast cancer drug trastuzumab (Herceptin) is needed for proper heart blood-vessel development, reported researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2016/07/epstein/ Wed, 13 Jul 2016 17:30:00 GMT Using new high-resolution microscopy, a team from the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania found that molecular struts called microtubules (MT) interact with the heart's contractile machinery to provide mechanical resistance for the beating of the heart. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2016/04/prosser/ Thu, 21 Apr 2016 18:00:00 GMT A team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has discovered the molecular mechanism that underlies cerebral cavernous malformations. They published their results this week online ahead of print in Nature. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2016/03/kahn/ Wed, 30 Mar 2016 17:00:00 GMT The generally accepted medical maxim that elevated HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) is "good" has been overturned by a multi-center, international study, led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2016/03/rader/ Thu, 10 Feb 2016 18:00:00 GMT The presence or absence of the CAP2 gene causes sudden cardiac death in mice, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/12/field/ Mon, 14 Dec 2015 17:30:00 GMT A potential treatment for a serious clotting condition that can strike patients who receive heparin to treat or prevent blood clots may lie within reach by elucidating the structure of the protein complex at its root, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.  http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/10/cines/ Tue, 06 Oct 2015 17:15:00 GMT The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has awarded Nancy Speck, PhD, a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the 2015 Henry M. Stratton Medal for Basic Science for her "seminal contributions in the area of hematology research." http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/08/speck/ Wed, 05 Aug 2015 14:15:00 GMT Now, a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, published online this month ahead of the print issue in the Journal of Lipid Research, questions the relevance of fish oil-derived SPMs and their purported anti-inflammatory effects in humans. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/fitzgerald/ Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:15:00 GMT The lymphatic system provides a slow flow of fluid from our organs and tissues into the bloodstream. It returns fluid and proteins that leak from blood vessels, provides passage for immune and inflammatory cells from the tissues to the blood, and hosts key niches for immune cells. How this system develops hasn’t been well understood, but now researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found from experiments in mice that the early flow of lymph fluid is a critical factor in the development of mature lymphatic vessels. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/kahn/ Mon, 27 Jul 2015 20:15:00 GMT Daniel J. Rader, MD, chair of the Department of Genetics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Danish Saleheen, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, have been awarded a four-year, $2 million 2015 Grand Challenge Award from the American Heart Association (AHA). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/rader/ Fri, 17 Jul 2015 15:00:00 GMT Hospitalizations for heart conditions, neurological illness, and other conditions were higher among people who live near unconventional gas and oil drilling (hydraulic fracturing), according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University published this week in PLOS ONE. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/panetteri/ Wed, 15 Jul 2015 18:00:00 GMT Future therapies for failing hearts are likely to include stem-like cells and associated growth factors that regenerate heart muscle. Scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have just taken an important step towards that future by identifying a stem-like "progenitor" cell that produces only heart muscle cells. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/06/epstein/ Thu, 25 Jun 2015 18:00:00 GMT Five early-career researchers from three schools at the University of Pennsylvania have received funding from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) for their excellence in biomedical research, in topics including heart disease, sleep, and infectious diseases, as part of a nationwide program totaling $22.5 million. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/06/bwf/ Wed, 17 Jun 2015 14:00:00 GMT A team led by scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has shown in a large, forward-looking epidemiological study that a person's HDL function—the efficiency of HDL molecules at removing cholesterol—may be a better measure of coronary heart disease risk and a better target for heart-protecting drugs. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/05/rader/ Wed, 27 May 2015 13:15:00 GMT An important link between the human body clock and the immune system has relevance for better understanding inflammatory and infectious diseases, discovered collaborators at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College, Dublin. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/05/fitzgerald/ Fri, 18 May 2015 19:00:00 GMT Howard Herrmann, MD, a professor of Medicine and Surgery, and director of the Interventional Cardiology Program and Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been named to the new class of Master Fellows of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (MSCAI), the professional medical society for adult and pediatric invasive/interventional cardiologists. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/05/herrmann/ Fri, 15 May 2015 13:45:00 GMT The Lariat device, which has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for soft tissue approximation (placement of a suture) during surgical procedures, is associated with a significant incidence of death and urgent cardiac surgery during its frequent off-label use to prevent stroke in patients with the irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/05/giri/ Mon, 04 May 2015 15:00:00 GMT The second annual Million Dollar Bike Ride will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2015, to support research and raise awareness about rare diseases. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/04/mdbr/ Tue, 28 Apr 2015 16:00:00 GMT Use of either proximal embolic protection devices (P-EPDs) or distal filter embolic protection devices (F-EPDs) during elective carotid artery stenting results in low rates of in-hospital stroke and death, according to a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/04/giri/ Mon, 20 Apr 2015 18:00:00 GMT Understanding the molecular signals that guide early cells in the embryo to develop into different types of organs provides insight into how tissues regenerate and repair themselves. By knowing the principles that underlie the intricate steps in this transformation, researchers will be able to make new cells at will for transplantation and tissue repair in such situations as liver or heart disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/04/zaret/ Thu, 16 Apr 2015 18:00:00 GMT A new collaborative study describes a way that lung tissue can regenerate after injury. The team found that lung tissue has more dexterity in repairing tissue than once thought. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/04/epstein/ Mon, 13 Apr 2015 09:00:00 GMT A team led by Ed Morrisey, PhD, a professor of Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology and the scientific director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has now shown that a subset of RNA molecules, called microRNAs, is important for cardiomyocyte cell proliferation during development and is sufficient to induce proliferation in cardiomyocytes in the adult heart. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/03/morrisey/ Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:00:00 GMT In a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Penn Medicine researchers found common molecules signifying perturbed metabolism in response to sleep restriction in a comprehensive metabolic profiling of blood from both rats and humans. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/02/sehgal/ Wed, 11 Feb 2015 18:30:00 GMT Penn Medicine physicians have completed their 1,000th transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure, marking an important milestone in the health system's treatment of aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the heart's aortic valve. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/02/bavaria/ Tue, 10 Feb 2015 15:30:00 GMT Tens of millions of people around the world have abnormal, leak-prone sproutings of blood vessels in the brain called cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs). These abnormal growths can lead to seizures, strokes, hemorrhages, and other serious conditions, yet their precise molecular cause has never been determined. Now, cardiovascular scientists at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have studied this pathway in heart development to discover an important set of molecular signals, triggered by CCM-linked gene defects, that potentially could be targeted to treat the disorder. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/01/kahn/ Mon, 26 Jan 2015 16:00:00 GMT While a boon for many patients who would not have been a candidate for conventional surgery, Penn Medicine researchers have discovered that marketing for TAVR does not accurately portray the risks associated with undergoing the procedure. Their analysis is available in the January 12 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/01/neuman/ Mon, 12 Jan 2015 15:00:00 GMT A new study led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, which was presented today at the 2014 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association, investigated patient perspectives on deactivation of implantable cardioverter defibrillators at the end of life, especially related to decisions to deactivate devices against patient or family wishes. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/11/defib/ Mon, 17 Nov 2014 20:00:00 GMT Black patients who have been diagnosed with heart failure are no less likely than white patients to get atrial fibrillation (an irregular heartbeat, or arrhythmia), according to a new study led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, which was presented today at the 2014 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/11/race/ Mon, 17 Nov 2014 19:00:00 GMT Members of the public in counties with higher median household incomes are more likely to step into action to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, when they witness someone have a cardiac arrest, according to a new study led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, which was presented today at the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Science Symposium 2014. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/11/bystanders/ Sun, 16 Nov 2014 13:30:00 GMT Experts from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will be moderating panels, serving as discussants and presenting research findings on the latest advances in cardiovascular medicine, science and education at the 2014 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association in Chicago November 15-19, 2014. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/11/aha/ Fri, 14 Nov 2014 18:30:00 GMT Emma Meagher, MD, associate professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, received the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) annual meeting in Chicago this week. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/11/meagher/ Tue, 11 Nov 2014 18:00:00 GMT A new effort mapping 24-hr patterns of expression for thousands of genes in 12 different mouse organs – five years in the making – provides important clues about how the role of timing may influence the way drugs work in the body. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/10/hogenesch/ Mon, 27 Oct 2014 19:00:00 GMT A Penn Medicine-developed drug has received orphan status from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this month for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare, life-threatening disease that causes anemia due to destruction of red blood cells and thrombosis. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/10/lambris/ Wed, 22 Oct 2014 17:45:00 GMT Experts from the Penn Medicine Cardiovascular Institute and the Cardiac Arrhythmia Program will present new research and participate in expert panel discussions at the 35th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) May 7-10, 2014 in San Francisco.  http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/05/cardio/ Wed, 07 May 2014 14:00:00 GMT The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Foundation (SCAI) has presented Penn Medicine's Mitul Kadakia, MD, with the 2014 Gregory Braden Memorial Fellow of the Year Award in recognition of his outstanding performance as an interventional cardiology fellow-in-training. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/04/kadakia/ Fri, 25 April 2014 14:00:00 GMT Two researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Cardiovascular Institute (CVI) are among the 2014 recipients of the prestigious Clinical Research Achievement Award for their work in cardiovascular science. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/04/crf/ Thu, 10 April 2014 13:00:00 GMT A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have developed a material that can be applied directly to damaged heart tissue and minimize the long-term damage that can lead to congestive heart failure. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/04/gorman/ Wed, 02 April 2014 13:15:00 GMT Penn Medicine experts presented research findings that could come to define new standards of cardiovascular care, including findings on the efficacy of novel interventions for treatment resistant hypertension and atherosclerosis, at the 2014 American College of Cardiology Scientific Session, ACC.14. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/03/interventions/ Mon, 31 Mar 2014 13:15:00 GMT Michael S. Parmacek, MD, Herbert C. Rorer Professor of Medical Sciences, has been named Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/03/parmacek/ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 13:00:00 GMT Penn Medicine will join forces with the City of Philadelphia to wrap-up American Heart Month on Friday, February 28th by offering free cardiovascular screenings for city employees. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/02/screenings/ Fri, 28 Feb 2014 13:00:00 GMT While more women die from heart disease each year than all forms of cancer combined, many are more fearful of other diseases, particularly breast cancer. This phenomenon, referred to as “misfearing,” describes the human tendency to fear instinctively and according to societal influences rather than based on facts. This trend may be a contributor to the reasons why many women fail to take enough steps -- such as changing diet and fitness habits or risk-taking behaviors -- to guard against heart disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/02/rosenbaum/ Thu, 16 Jan 2014 15:45:00 GMT A study conducted by researchers from several institutions, including the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has found similarly low rates of complication and death among U.S. patients who are treated with the three most common systems for placing stents in blocked carotid arteries of the neck. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/01/giri/ Thu, 16 Jan 2014 15:45:00 GMT A new study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has determined that a gene-based method for selecting patients' doses of the popular heart medication warfarin is no better than standardized dosing methods. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/11/kimmel/ Tue, 19 Nov 2013 15:45:00 GMT Based on the largest comprehensive systematic review to date, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania concluded that available evidence does not support an association between statins and memory loss or dementia. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/11/degoma/ Mon, 18 Nov 2013 21:00:00 GMT New research presented today at the 2013 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found no difference in outcomes at one-year between two recommended surgical options for treating ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) – repair of the leaky valve or its replacement with an artificial valve. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/11/acker/ Mon, 18 Nov 2013 15:45:00 GMT Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania faculty will be involved in presenting research findings on the latest advances in cardiovascular medicine, science, and education at the 2013 American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions, in Dallas, TX, November 16 – 20, 2013. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/11/ahasession/ Thu, 15 Nov 2013 19:00:00 GMT Michael A. Golden, MD, associate professor of Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and chief, Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC), has been named president of the Eastern Vascular Society (EVS). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/11/golden/ Wed, 06 Nov 2013 17:00:00 GMT Men taking testosterone therapy had a 29 percent greater risk of death, heart attack and stroke according to a study of a "real world" population of men. An accompanying editorial in JAMA by an endocrinologist with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania notes that the mounting evidence of a signal of cardiovascular risk warrants cautious testosterone prescribing and additional investigation. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/11/cappola/ Mon, 05 Nov 2013 17:00:00 GMT The combined toll of occupational, recreational and environmental noise exposure poses a serious public health threat going far beyond hearing damage, according to an international team of researchers writing this week in The Lancet. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/10/basner/ Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:45:00 GMT The Joint Commission, in conjunction with The American Heart Association, has awarded the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) Advanced Certification in Heart Failure. Achievement of this certification signifies HUP's dedication to fostering better outcomes for patients in its heart failure program. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/09/tjc/ Tue, 24 Sept 2013 15:00:00 GMT Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania point out that the body mass index (BMI), based on the weight and height, is not an accurate measure of body fat content and does not account for critical factors that contribute to health or mortality, such as fat distribution, proportion of muscle to fat, and the sex and racial differences in body composition. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/08/ahima/ Thu, 22 August 2013 18:00:00 GMT Patients with mild, moderate and severe psoriasis had increasingly higher odds of having at least one major medical disease in addition to psoriasis, when compared to patients without psoriasis. Reporting findings in JAMA Dermatology, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, concluded that the severity of disease, as measured by the percentage of body surface area affected by psoriasis, was strongly linked to an increased presence of other diseases affecting the lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/08/gelfand/ Wed, 07 August 2013 20:00:00 GMT Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that, across a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, cerebrovascular disease affecting circulation of blood in the brain was significantly associated with dementia. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/07/trojanowski/ Wed, 10 July 2013 00:01:00 GMT Mariell Jessup, MD, professor of Medicine, associate chief, Clinical Affairs, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, and medical director of the Penn Medicine Heart and Vascular Center, has become the president of the American Heart Association (AHA). Her term begins July 1, 2013. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/07/jessup/ Mon, 01 July 2013 15:00:00 GMT Marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the program, Penn Medicine physicians have completed their 1000th lifesaving heart transplant at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/12/transplants/ Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:00:00 GMT Daniel J. Rader, MD, professor of Medicine and chief, Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded the American Heart Association's (AHA) Clinical Research Prize. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/11/rader/ Sun, 4 Nov 2012 14:00:00 GMT n international effort led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has resulted in positive phase 3 clinical trial results for a new medicine to treat patients suffering from a rare and deadly cholesterol disorder. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/11/lipid/ Fri, 2 Nov 2012 13:00:00 GMT Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report in a new study that thickening of the heart's right ventricle is associated with an increased risk of heart failure and cardiovascular death in patients without clinical cardiovascular disease at baseline. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/09/heart/ Thu, 6 Sep 2012 13:00:00 GMT The National Institutes of Health (NIH), in partnership with the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, has announced that Nehal N. Mehta, MD, director of Inflammatory Risk in Preventive Cardiology at Penn Medicine, will be the inaugural Lasker Clinical Research Scholar. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/07/mehta/ Mon, 9 July 2012 15:00:00 GMT In the United States, radial artery (wrist) catheterization is performed in the minority of diagnostic angiograms and cardiac stenting procedures despite the benefits it offers to patients in terms of reduced complications and faster mobility after the procedure. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/07/stenting/ Fri, 6 July 2012 13:00:00 GMT Mariell Jessup, MD, associate chief-Clinical Affairs, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and medical director of the Penn Medicine Heart and Vascular Center, has been named president-elect of the American Heart Association (AHA). Dr. Jessup will begin her term on July 1, 2012. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/06/jessup/ Tue, 26 June 2012 14:00:00 GMT A new report issued today by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and developed in collaboration with 10 other leading professional societies provides detailed criteria to help clinicians maximize the appropriate use of certain noninvasive vascular tests when caring for patients with suspected or known non-coronary arterial disorders. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/06/acc/ Mon, 11 June 2012 17:00:00 GMT A team of researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has received a $3.8 million dollar grant from the National Institute of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), to conduct a trial to study the impact of psoriasis treatment on vascular inflammation and lipid metabolism. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/04/study/ Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:00:00 GMT Niacin, or vitamin B3, is the one approved drug that elevates good cholesterol (high density lipoprotein, HDL) while depressing bad cholesterol (low density lipoprotein , LDL), and has thereby attracted much attention from patients and physicians. Niacin keeps fat from breaking down, and so obstructs the availability of LDL building blocks. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/04/drugs/ Fri, 6 Apr 2012 16:00:00 GMT The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has been has been selected as a Regional Center for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's (NHLBI) Heart Failure Clinical Trials Network. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/02/heart-failure/ Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:00:00 GMT People who suffer from sleep disturbances are at major risk for obesity, diabetes, and coronary artery disease, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. For the first time in such a large and diverse sample, analyzing the data of over 130,000 people, the new research also indicates that general sleep disturbance (difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, and/or sleeping too much) may play a role in the development of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. The study is published online ahead of print in the Journal of Sleep Research. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/01/sleep-cardio-diabetes-obesity/ Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:00:00 GMT The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania is one of six institutions to be named part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Lung Repair and Regeneration Consortium (LRRC). Each of the institutions will receive $2.5 million over five years. Edward Morrisey, PhD, professor of Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology and Scientific Director of the Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will lead the Penn consortium. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/01/lung-biologists-award/ Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:00:00 GMT A group of Penn Medicine researchers is set to save lives with cell phone cameras -- and they are challenging the public to help. The MyHeartMap Challenge, a month-long contest slated to take place beginning in mid January, will send thousands of Philadelphians to the streets and to social media sites to locate as many automated external defibrillators (AEDs) as they can. The contest is just a first step in what the Penn team hopes will grow to become a nationwide, crowd-sourced AED registry project that will put the lifesaving devices in the hands of anyone, anywhere, anytime. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/12/myheartmap-challenge/ Wed, 8 Dec 2011 04:00:00 GMT Supervised exercise improves walking ability as good as, if not better than, stents in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD), according to research released at the 2011 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. The study is a joint collaboration from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Minnesota Medical School, Rhode Island Hospital, and 13 other academic institutions and medical centers. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/exercise-wallking-pad/ Wed, 16 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT Collaborative research from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has shown that psoriasis patients have an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death, especially if the psoriasis is moderate to severe. Now, Penn researchers have discovered the potential underlying mechanism by which the inflammatory skin disease impacts cardiovascular health. In two new studies presented at the 2011 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, Penn researchers show that the systemic inflammatory impact of psoriasis may alter both the makeup of cholesterol particles and numbers, as well as impair the function of high density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/psoriasis-hdl/ Wed, 16 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT New research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has shown for the first time that pneumonia is the most common serious infection after heart surgery. The new study, presented at the 2011 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, also revealed that most infections occur about two weeks after surgery, not one week as physicians previously thought. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/pneumonia-heart-surgery/ Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT Just 30 percent the nation's state police agencies reported that they equip their vehicles with automated external defibrillators, and of those, nearly 60 percent of said only a minority of their fleet have the lifesaving devices on board, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today at the American Heart Association's annual Scientific Sessions (Abstract #10721). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/aed-cars/ Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT Can a visit to your primary care doctor help you lose weight? Primary care physicians, working with medical assistants in their practices, helped one group of their obese patients lose an average of 10.1 lb during a two-year lifestyle intervention, according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Their 10 lb weight loss was associated, over the two years, with improvements in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, including waist circumference and HDL cholesterol levels. The results of the POWER-UP (Practice-based Opportunities for Weight Reduction at the University of Pennsylvania) trial were reported in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine and at the American Heart Association annual meeting today. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/obese-power-up/ Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT A new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and collaborators at various institutions, presented at the 2011 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, shows that a novel, non-invasive measurement of arterial wave reflections may be able to predict who is most at risk for heart failure. The authors presented data from an ancillary study of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/ni-meas-heart-failure/ Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT Physicians may be making premature predictions about which patients are not likely to survive following cardiac arrest – and even withdrawing care -- before the window in which comatose patients who have received therapeutic hypothermia are most likely to wake up, according to two new studies from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The research helps to better define the proper timeframe and manner in which doctors may be able to predict which patients will regain consciousness after the use of therapeutic hypothermia, which preserves brain and other organ function following cardiac arrest. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/cardiac-arrest-hypothermia/ Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT Discussion about cardiac arrest on Twitter is common and represents a new opportunity to provide lifesaving information to the public, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The Penn investigators will present two studies (ReSS Abstracts #52 and #53) examining cardiac arrest-information exchange on the social media site today at the American Heart Association's annual Scientific Sessions. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/twitter-save-lives/ Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT Even members of the lay public who have received CPR training are confused about how to perform the lifesaving skill and say they don't have confidence in their ability to do it properly, according to a study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania which will be presented today at the American Heart Association's annual Scientific Sessions (Abstract #65). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/save-lives-cpr/ Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT Resources for News Media Covering the 2011 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, November 12 – 16, 2011 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/american-heart-assn/ Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT Three professors from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have been elected members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the nation's highest honors in biomedicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/10/institute-of-medicine-elects-three/ Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT Can a bird have a heart attack? A recent paper published by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that cardiovascular disease may be an unfortunate consequence of mammalian evolution. The study, published in a recent issue of the journal Blood, demonstrates that the same features of blood platelets that may have provided an evolutionary advantage to early mammals now predispose humans to cardiovascular disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/10/cardio_disease_evol/ Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT Daniel J. Rader, MD, chief, Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, and Edward Morrisey, PhD, professor of Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, and Scientific Director at the Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin received a five-year, $9 million grant for stem cell research from the National Institutes of Health's National Human Genome Research (NHGRI) and the National Heart Lung and Blood (NHLBI) Institutes. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/10/nih-genevariants-cardio/ Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients of different sexes and races may respond differently to treatment with commonly used medications for the disease, says a new study from researchers at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/09/women-pulmonary-arterial-hypertension/ Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:00:00 GMT Mitral regurgitation is a common heart valve disorder, where blood flows backwards through the mitral valve when the heart contracts and reduces the amount of blood that is pumped out to the body. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/09/atrial-fibrillation/ Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:00:00 GMT The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) has received the Get With The Guidelines®–Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/09/gold-quality/ Thu, 15 Sep 2011 02:00:00 GMT The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) has received the Get With The Guidelines®–Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/09/gold-quality/ Thu, 15 Sep 2011 02:00:00 GMT It's no secret that a high-fat diet isn't healthy. Now researchers have discovered a molecular clue as to precisely why that is. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/09/heart-disease/ Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:00:00 GMT Stacey Rentschler, MD, PhD, cardiovascular instructor, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), has received the Burroughs Wellcome Fund's Career Award for Medical Scientists. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/08/wellcome-fund/ Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:00:00 GMT Targeted therapies that are designed to suppress the formation of new blood vessels in tumors, such as Avastin (bevacizumab), have slowed cancer growth in some patients. However, they have not produced the dramatic responses researchers initially thought they might. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/07/tumors/ Wed, 13 July 2011 17:00:00 GMT For the past decade, researchers have tried to reprogram the identity of all kinds of cell types. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/07/heart-cells/ Fri, 8 July 2011 19:00:00 GMT More than 200,000 people are treated for cardiac arrest in United States hospitals each year, a rate that may be on the rise. The findings are reported online this week in Critical Care Medicine in a University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine-led study. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/cardiac-arrest/ Tue, 28 June 2011 14:00:00 GMT Scott D. Halpern, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been selected for AcademyHealth’s 2011 Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/academy-health/ Tue, 14 June 2011 18:00:00 GMT Researchers at the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that the size and pumping ability of the right side of the heart differs by age, gender and racial/ethnic groups. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/hearts-right-side/ Tue, 6 June 2011 20:00:00 GMT Resources for Media Covering the American Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting June 3-7, 2011 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/asco-2011/ Thu, 2 June 2011 01:00:00 GMT Pleural mesothelioma patients who undergo lung-sparing surgery in combination with photodynamic therapy (PDT) show superior overall survival than patient treated using the conventional therapy of extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) (or en bloc removal of the lung and surrounding tissue) with PDT, indicates new research from the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The research is published in the June 2011 issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/asbestos/ Thu, 2 June 2011 16:00:00 GMT Despite their beneficial effects in heart disease, neither aspirin nor simvastatin appear to offer benefit to patients suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), according to research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/05/heart-drugs/ Wed, 18 May 2011 18:00:00 GMT Despite recent concerns that medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) could increase the risk of cardiovascular events in children and adolescents, an observational study conducted by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and HealthCore Inc. finds they are no more likely to die from a severe cardiovascular event than those who do not take the drugs. The findings, published online in the journal Pediatrics, provide the first analysis of such events in a large population of children and adolescents receiving ADHD medications compared to non-users. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/05/cardiovascular-events/ Mon, 16 May 2011 13:00:00 GMT New research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine shows a substantial decrease in one type of revascularization procedure, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, while rates of utilization of the other form, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), have remained unchanged. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/05/coronary-artery-bypass-surgery/ Tue, 03 May 2011 20:00:00 GMT (Nicholas) Kenji Taylor, a first-year year student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been named one of 15 Philadelphia Schweitzer Fellows for 2011-2012. Schweitzer Fellows partner with community-based organizations to develop and implement yearlong, mentored service projects that sustainably address the social determinants of health—all on top of their regular graduate school responsibilities. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/05/hypertension-african-american-men/ Mon, 02 May 2011 19:00:00 GMT Each year, more than 100,000 patients in the U.S. undergo implantation of a new implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) for heart rhythm abnormalities. This number constitutes a 20-fold increase over the last 15 years. Current medical guidelines advocate discussion of end of life care of these medical devices, including deactivation, but many patients may not understand their options. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine say that discussions should also address post-mortem donation of ICDs for product improvement or reuse overseas as pacemakers, to help reduce global health disparities. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/04/icd-survey/ Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:00:00 GMT Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease, and if severe, has been demonstrated to be a risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) disease. However, the degree to which psoriasis is associated with major adverse cardiac events (MACE), such as heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death has not been defined. Now, new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has revealed an increased incidence of MACE in patients with severe psoriasis. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/04/psoriasis-major-adverse-cardiac-events/ Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:00:00 GMT Just released data from a clinical trial shows continued promise for a new minimally invasive treatment option for patients with severe aortic stenosis. New research presented at the 2011 American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions shows that transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is as good as traditional open heart surgery for high-risk, but operable patients. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is a participating site for the trial. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/04/tavi-minimally-invasive-heart-surgery/ Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:10:00 GMT Current research supports the notion that lifestyle choices influence cardiovascular health, but to what extent specific emotions play is undefined. Now, new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has revealed the role that guilt may play as a motivational tool for cardiovascular patients. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/04/heart-health-guilt-motivation/ Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:00:00 GMT A new analysis by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine of recent cardiology clinical practice guidelines has found that more than half of the experts involved in the development of these guidelines reported a conflict of interest (COI). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/03/cardiovascular-guidelines-coi/ Mon, 28 Mar 2011 21:00:00 GMT An international analysis of 14 genome-wide association studies involving over 100,000 patients has identified 13 new genetic risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD). Muredach P. Reilly, MBBCH, MSCE, associate professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and colleagues played a central organizing role in the international consortium, CARDIoGRAM (Coronary Artery Disease Genome-wide Replication and Meta-analysis), that combined and analyzed data from all currently published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on heart attack and CAD, as well as some unpublished data. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/03/heart-disease-genetic-components/ Tue, 08 Mar 2011 16:30:00 GMT Penn Medicine cardiologists are leaders in a new cardiology subspecialty, Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology. Seven of the nine Heart Failure and Transplant doctors at Penn are now certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) in the new Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology specialty. Only 225 doctors are certified world-wide. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/02/advanced-heart-failure-transplant-cardiology-certification/ Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:00:00 GMT Nearly five million Americans live with heart failure, with as many as 700,000 new cases diagnosed each year. In addition to lifestyle factors, scientists have shown that heart failure has a strong heritable component, but identifying the responsible genes has been a major challenge. Now, new research has identified a common genetic risk factor for heart failure in Caucasians. The study, a collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, and other institutions, was published this week in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/01/heart-failure-gene/ Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:30:00 GMT A new study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine shows that certain genetic profiles increase risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) while others uniquely increase risk of heart attacks in those with CAD. The findings, published online first today and in an upcoming edition of The Lancet, are the results of the analysis of two genome-wide association studies (GWAS) -- an examination of all or most of the genes (the genome) of different individuals to identify common genetic factors that influence disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/01/heart-attack-genetic-risk/ Fri, 14 Jan 2011 23:30:00 GMT Recent findings have called into question the notion that pharmacologic increases in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good cholesterol") are necessarily beneficial to patients. Now, a new study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that a different metric, a measure of HDL function called cholesterol efflux capacity, is more closely associated with protection against heart disease than HDL cholesterol levels themselves. Findings from the study could lead to new therapeutic interventions in the fight against heart disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/01/efflux-capacity-heart-health-indicator/ Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:00:00 GMT An international team of researchers led by Daniel J. Rader, MD, associate director of Penn Medicine's Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, has received a $6 million grant from the Paris-based Fondation Leducq to study the molecular genetics of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/01/heart-disease-genetics-grant/ Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:30:00 GMT A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine describe the interconnections between three-molecules that control fetal, heart-muscle-cell proliferation in a mouse model that will help cardiologists better understand the natural repair process after heart attacks and help scientists learn how to expand cardiac stem cells for regenerative therapies. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/10/heart-muscle-regeneration/ Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:10:00 GMT Just released data from a clinical trial shows promise for a new minimally invasive treatment option for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are too sick for traditional forms of open-heart surgery. As compared to standard medical therapy, the new procedure, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), significantly reduced mortality rates in patients who received the new valve. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/09/transcatheter-aortic-valve-implantation/ Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:00:00 GMT Electrophysiologists from Penn Medicine have implanted the region's first subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) for sudden cardiac arrest, a potentially fatal electrical malfunction of the heart. The patient, a young athletic male in his 20s, had the new system implanted during an outpatient procedure at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP).  http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/08/subcutaneous-defibrillator/ Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:00:00 GMT Researchers have shown that a gene linked to a disease trait by genome wide association studies (GWAS) can be clinically relevant and an important determinant of disease risk. In a study published this week in Nature, a team of investigators describes how a region on chromosome 1 previously found by GWAS to be associated with both low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C, the "bad" cholesterol) and myocardial infarction (MI) regulates LDL-C levels.  http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/08/cholesterol-heart-disease-gene/ Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:00:00 GMT Garret FitzGerald, MD, director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania, is the recipient of the 2010 Pharmacia-ASPET Award for Experimental Therapeutics. The Pharmacia-ASPET Award for Experimental Therapeutics is given annually to recognize and stimulate outstanding research in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics—basic laboratory or clinical research that has had, or potentially will have, a major impact on the pharmacological treatment of disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/04/fitzgerald-pharmacia-aspet-award/ Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:00:00 GMT A team of cardiologists, materials scientists, and bioengineers have created and tested a new type of implantable device for measuring the heart’s electrical output that they say is a vast improvement over current devices. The new device represents the first use of flexible silicon technology for a medical application. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/03/flexible-silicon-device/ Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:00:00 GMT Garret FitzGerald, MD, McNeil Professor in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Chair of the Department of Pharmacology; and Director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics received the J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine last month. Supported by the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario, the award annually recognizes the world’s leading medical researcher. FitzGerald was recognized for his contributions to the development of low-dose aspirin for the prevention of heart disease and being the first investigator to predict and explain the cardiovascular hazard from nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/12/cardiovascular-research-taylor-prize/ Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:25:00 GMT Among eligible Medicare beneficiaries, increased use of carotid arterial stenting (CAS) procedures to treat carotid stenosis—the narrowing of the carotid artery—is associated with higher rates of mortality and adverse clinical outcomes, including heart attack and stroke, according to researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/11/carotid-artery-stent-outcomes/ Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT While studying how the heart is formed, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine serendipitously found a novel cellular source of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common type of abnormal heart beat. Jonathan Epstein, MD, William Wikoff Smith Professor, and Chair, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, and Vickas Patel, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, have identified a population of cells in the atria of the heart and pulmonary veins of humans and mice that appear to be the seat of AF. The finding may lead to a more precise way to treat AF, with reduced side effects. Their findings appear online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/11/atrial-fibrillation-cellular-source/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:30:00 GMT A brain-preserving cooling treatment called therapeutic hypothermia is a cost-effective way to improve outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which claims the lives of more than 300,000 people each year in the United States and leaves thousands of others neurologically devastated. The treatment, which lowers body temperature to prevent damage to the brain and other major organs when blood flow is restored to the body following cardiac arrest, is considered a "good value" when compared to many other accepted and widely utilized medical treatments, including dialysis for kidney failure or complex heart surgeries, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research published this week in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/cooling-treatment-cost-effective/ Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:50:00 GMT Thomas Cappola, MD, ScM, an assistant professor in the division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been honored with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The award, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding early-career scientists and engineers, recognizes Cappola’s outstanding achievements in research on causes and treatment for heart failure, which is the leading cause of hospitalization among adults in the United States. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/07/cappola-presidential-award/ Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:30:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine will receive $2 million over the next four years from the American Heart Association and the Jon Holden DeHaan Foundation to study how heart muscle cell regeneration can help improve outcomes for heart attack and heart failure patients. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/heart-muscle-cell-regeneration.html Mon, 18 May 2009 16:00:00 GMT Women with chest pain are less likely than male patients to receive recommended, proven therapies while en route to the hospital, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Despite evidence showing that the drugs aspirin and nitroglycerin are important early interventions for people who may be having a heart attack, women don’t get them as often as men with the same types of symptoms, says a new study that was presented last week at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine’s annual conference. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/gender-disparities-chest-pain.html Mon, 18 May 2009 14:20:00 GMT The first long-term study following a large number of chest pain patients who are screened with coronary computerized tomographic angiography (CTA) confirms that the test is a safe, effective way to rule out serious cardiovascular disease in patients who come to hospital emergency rooms with chest pain, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine which was presented last week at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine’s annual conference. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/ct-scan-chest-pain-diagnosis.html Mon, 18 May 2009 14:20:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues have discovered that a type of prostaglandin – one of a family of fatty compounds key to the cardiovscular system – may play the role of increasing blood pressure and accelerating atherosclerosis, at least in mice. Mice that lack the receptor for the type of prostaglandin studied, PGF2a, have lower blood pressure and less atherosclerosis than their non-mutant brethren. The results suggest that targeting this pathway could represent a novel therapeutic approach to cardiovascular disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/new-blood-pressure-control-target.html Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT Over the next five years, Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Associate Scholar in the Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will receive funding from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to study the relationship between psoriasis, cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular outcomes. This research will build a deeper understanding of the relationship between inflammatory diseases like psoriasis and myocardial infarction (heart attack), potentially paving the way for improved disease management strategies for the over 7 million Americans with psoriasis. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/psoriasis-associated-risks.html Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:30:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have unlocked the mystery of a puzzling human disease and gained insight into cardiovascular development, all thanks to a big-hearted fish. Mark Kahn, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, graduate student Benjamin Kleaveland, and colleagues report in the February issue of Nature Medicine that a human vascular condition called Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (CCM) is caused by leaky junctions between cells in the lining of blood vessels. By combining studies with zebrafish and mice, the researchers found that the aberrant junctions are the result of mutated or missing proteins in a novel biochemical process, the so-called Heart-of-glass (HEG)-CCM pathway. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/02/heg-ccm-pathway.html Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:00:00 GMT Efforts to fight the toll of cardiac arrest have typically focused on pre-hospital factors -- bystander CPR education and improvement, public defibrillation programs, and quicker EMS response. But new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine reveals that the hospital where patients are cared for after being resuscitated plays a key role in their chances of survival following these incidents, which take the lives of more than 300,000 Americans each year. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/01/cardiac-arrest-survival.html Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:00:00 GMT Psoriasis – a common skin disease characterized by thickened patches of inflamed, scaly skin – is associated with an increased risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular conditions, especially when skin disease is severe, according to research by Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. An editorial consensus paper on the topic is published in the December 15th issue of the American Journal of Cardiology. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/12/psoriasis-cardiovascular.html Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:30:00 GMT Penn Presbyterian Medical Center is the only hospital in Philadelphia to be selected as one of the nation’s “100 Top Hospitals” for cardiovascular care by Thomson Reuters, a leading news and information company. Each year, this award for cardiovascular services objectively measures performance on key criteria at the nation’s top-performing acute-care hospitals. This is the sixth year that Penn Presbyterian has been recognized with this honor. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/12/penn-presbyterian-top100-cardiac.html Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:30:00 GMT Results of a new study call into question recent clinical guidelines issued by leading cardiovascular groups, including the American Heart Association, which recommend patients with cardiovascular disease be screened for signs of depression and treated accordingly. The study, published in the November 12 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association and conducted by an international team of researchers including James Coyne, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, determined that there is no clear evidence that depression screening plays a conclusive role in improving cardiovascular patients' health. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/cardiovascular-depression-screening.html Using the drug darapladib, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues have inhibited a cholesterol-and immune system-associated protein, thereby reducing the development of heart-disease plaques that may cause death, heart attacks, and strokes in a pig model of atherosclerosis and diabetes. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/09/darapladib-artery-blockages.html Researchers have manipulated cell activity that occurs during the interruption of blood flow to strongly protect heart tissue in animal studies. The finding has the potential to become an emergency treatment for heart attack patients, particularly since already existing drugs might be pressed into service to produce the protective effects. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/07/hdac-heart-attack-protection.html The more than ten million Americans who’ve received drug-eluting stents to open their blocked coronary arteries have a bright future, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/05/drug-eluting-stents-benefits.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that a group of liver enzymes called proprotein convertases (PCs) may be the key to raising levels of good cholesterol (HDL-C). The pathway by which these proteins are able to achieve an increase in HDL cholesterol involves another enzyme that normally degrades HDL-C, and was also discovered at Penn. The newly recognized relationship between these enzymes and cholesterol represents another target for ultimately controlling good cholesterol. The study appears in the current issue of Cell Metabolism. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/aug07/liver-enzymes-cholesterol.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered a unique molecular pathway that detects and selectively eliminates defective messenger RNAs from red blood cells. Other such pathways -- known as surveillance pathways -- operate in a more general way, in many cell types. Knowing how this specific surveillance system works can help researchers better understand hereditary diseases, in this case, thalassemia, a form of anemia, which is the most common genetic disorder worldwide. The results appear in the most recent issue of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/aug07/red-blood-cell-pathway.html By manipulating a critical cell-to-cell signaling pathway, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have successfully increased the number cells required for the normal development of right-sided structures in the heart, including the right ventricle. Penn scientists were able to increase the numbers of a cardiac stem cell population, called Isl-1 positive cardiac progenitors, in the developing embryo and in tissue grown in a culture dish by activating the Wnt pathway. The finding suggests a potential therapeutic strategy whereby influencing this pathway would be used to generate specialized heart cells to repair or replace cells damaged by cardiac disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jun07/cardiac-stem-cell-pathway.html Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found in a database study of women heart patients that COX inhibitors such as traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may undermine any purported protection against heart disease in participants taking estrogen therapy. The results were described this week in PLoS Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/may07/cox-weakens-hormone-therapy.html In the most recent issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, the American Heart Association (AHA) reverses its recommendations for the prevention of infective endocarditis (IE), an uncommon but potentially lethal infection of the endocardium, which forms the lining of the heart and heart valves. Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH, Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and Chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, was a committee member on this study. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/apr07/infective-endocarditis-recommendations.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine have discovered that implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) -- electric monitoring devices that deliver a lifesaving shock in the event of a cardiac arrest -- help patients with heart problems live longer more active lives. Further, the study found most patients living with ICDs enjoy a quality of life consistent with average Americans their age and have a high level of satisfaction with the device, offsetting longstanding perceptions that the technology extends but seriously impairs patients' lives. Peter Groeneveld, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of General Internal Medicine and his co-authors report their findings in the April 2007 issue of the journal Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/apr07/implantable-cardioverter-defibrillators.html Lance Becker, MD, Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been named Director of Penn's new Center for Resuscitation Science. The Center will focus on cellular research to aid in developing new and improved techniques to treat cardiac arrest. The Center will consist of three full-time labs and a clinical and administration branch. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/apr07/resuscitation-center.html Patient Gary Onufer received a donor heart on March 11, 2007. His recovery went well and he was discharged from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania on March 22, 2007. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/feb07/temporary-total-artificial-heart-release.html In this high-tech age of modern medicine, could it be possible to treat the leading cause of death in the U.S. through the power of meditation? According to a first-of-its-kind randomized study conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, a widely practiced, stress-reducing meditation technique can significantly reduce the severity of congestive heart failure. The study appears in the Winter 2007 issue of Ethnicity and Disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/mar07/meditation-heart-failure.html It has been known for decades that heart attacks and strokes occur most frequently in the early-morning hours. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have provided the first evidence for the role of our body’s internal molecular clock in controlling blood pressure and a mechanism by which this occurs. Published online next week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this report points to the novel possibility of modifying blood pressure and the early-morning risk of heart attack. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/feb07/internal-clock-blood-pressure.html INCLUDES ON-LINE PRESS KIT: A 46-year-old former fitness instructor, suffering from biventricular end-stage heart failure and in irreversible cardiogenic shock, has become the first to receive a new temporary Total Artificial Heart in the Northeast U.S. by cardiac surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/feb07/temporary-total-artificial-heart-release.html In almost all forms of heart failure, the heart begins to express genes that are normally only expressed in the fetal heart. Researchers have known for years that this fetal-gene reactivation happens, yet not what regulates it. Now, investigators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that an enzyme important in fetal heart-cell development regulates the enlargement of heart cells, known as cardiac hypertrophy, which is a precursor to many forms of congestive heart failure (CHF). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/feb07/fetal-heart-cell-enzyme.html A 46-year-old former fitness instructor, suffering from biventricular end-stage heart failure and in irreversible cardiogenic shock, has become the first to receive a new temporary Total Artificial Heart in the Northeast U.S. by cardiac surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/feb07/temporary-total-artificial-heart.html Shiriki Kumanyika, PhD, MPH, a Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has won the 2007 Red Dress Award from Woman's Day magazine. It is presented annually (this year to three individuals nationwide) to those who have made an exceptional contribution to fighting heart disease in women, the nation's leading killer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jan07/kumanyika-womans-day-award.htm How do blood clots maintain that precise balance of stiffness for wound healing and flexibility to go with the flow? Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences have shown that a well-known protein structure acts as a molecular spring, explaining one way that clots may stretch and bend under such physical stresses as blood flow. They report their findings in a Letter in the latest online edition of the Biophysical Journal. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jan07/blood-clot-flexibility.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated the potential of a new type of therapy for patients who suffer from high cholesterol levels. The findings are in the January 11 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). In this study, patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a high-risk condition refractory to conventional therapy, had a remarkable 51% reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or 'bad cholesterol' levels. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jan07/MTP-inhibition-reduce-high-cholesterol.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have pinpointed a key regulatory protein that translates blood flow into gene expression. The investigators showed that in a model of mouse embryonic development a transcription factor called Klf2, which resides in cells that line blood vessels, is activated by rapid, pulsed blood flow, as reported in the December issue of Developmental Cell. Understanding Klf2’s role in blood vessel and muscle biology could help with fighting atherosclerosis. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/dec06/blood-flow-gene-expression.htm Topics include being sleepy behind the wheel, keeping your New Year's resolutions, winter skin, the risks in shoveling snow, and restless legs syndrome (RLS). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/dec06/holiday-season-health-experts.htm Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, is the only hospital in Philadelphia to be selected as one of the nation's '100 Top Hospitals' for cardiovascular care by Solucient, a Thomson healthcare business. Every year, the Solucient award for cardiovascular services objectively measures performance on key criteria at the nation's top-performing acute-care hospitals. This is the fifth year in a row that Penn Presbyterian has been recognized with this honor. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/nov06/presbysol.htm Clinical researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Health System are starting a trial utilizing a new mechanism to treat the heart when its electrical pulses essentially short-circuit, referred to as atrial fibrillation (A-Fib). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/dec06/HIFU-ablation.htm The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is now offering the newest multi-slice computed tomography (CT) imaging technology to patients, becoming the first hospital in Philadelphia equipped with pioneering dual x-ray source technology -- which produces amazingly detailed 3-D images of the heart. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/nov06/newCT.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine have found that heart transplant patients who receive a donor heart from a person with hepatitis C (HCV) have a lower rate of survival. Corresponding Author Leanne Gasink, MD, MSCE, of the University of Pennsylvania's Division of Infectious Disease and colleagues report their findings in the October 17th issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/oct06/hepc.htm Independence Blue Cross has recognized Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center as Blue Distinction CenterSM for Cardiac Care. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/oct06/BDCcardiac.htm Psoriasis is an independent risk factor for a heart attack, and this risk is greatest in young patients with severe psoriasis, according to Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, Assistant Professor of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and lead author of the study that appears in the October 11 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/oct06/psorlink.htm Penn is hosting a free screening event for members of the media to look for peripheral arterial disease. P.A.D. is a condition that develops when arteries in the legs become clogged with plaque, limiting the flow of blood to the legs. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/sep06/padITC.htm Building on previous work, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that deleting an inflammation enzyme in a mouse model of heart disease slowed the development of atherosclerosis. What's more, the composition of the animals' blood vessels showed that the disease process had not only slowed, but also stabilized. This study points to the possibility of a new class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that steer clear of heart-disease risk and work to reduce it. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/sep06/newNSAIDs.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are utilizing a protein to 'switch on' the ability to repair damaged heart tissue. By triggering the cell-cycle signal, researchers can manipulate cells in animal models to regenerate damaged heart tissue. If this research is someday successfully translated to humans, it could change the approach to treating heart disease, the nation's leading killer. The findings, now on-line, in a surgical supplement of Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jul06/CVI_regen.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine -- in the largest study to date of female heart failure patients who underwent a specialized stress test called oxygen uptake or VO2 -- concluded that women tend to have lower maximum exercise VO2 levels than men, yet their survival is significantly better than men. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jun06/VO2.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Queenand#8217;s University, Ontario, Canada report in the online edition of Nature Medicine this week that the COX enzymes - well-known for their contrasting role in cardiovascular biology - interact physically to form a previously unrecognized biochemical partnership and function in the development of blood vessels in a mouse model. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jun06/COXenz.htm