Age and sex are both factors in the treatment and outcomes of patients with heart failure (HF). Current research shows that women and older patients are under-represented in HF clinical trials, and as a result, guideline recommendations are largely based on data from men. Published in JACC: Heart Failure, this secondary analysis of the VICTORIA trial […]
Frailty is a state of reduced physiological capacity across multiple body systems that increases vulnerability and poor health outcomes in older adults. Although frailty is common, particularly amongst people with cardiovascular disease, it often goes unrecognized. In a recent companion editorial published in the European Heart Journal (referring to the article ‘Frailty and outcomes in heart failure patients […]
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an irregular heart rhythm that causes the heart to beat abnormally and often very fast. In many instances, AF and chronic kidney disease (CKD), a condition characterized by the sustained loss of kidney function over time, co-exist due to shared risk factors (such as diabetes and hypertension) and similar mechanisms in […]
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a condition characterized by high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery that carries blood from the heart to the lungs. PAH is a heterogeneous disease, meaning it has several root causes, and how the disease manifests is determined by a number of factors, such as PAH subtype, genetic background, age, […]
In this secondary analysis of the VICTORIA trial, researchers sought to determine if electrocardiographic (ECG) measurements predict death in patients with chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), a condition in which the heart is unable to pump out blood effectively. Recently published in the European Journal of Heart Failure, this study included 4,880 patients from the […]
The 2023 Canadian Cardiovascular Society/Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology guidelines for the use of antiplatelet therapy were presented on October 28th at Vascular 2023 in Montreal and simultaneously published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. CVC faculty member, Dr. Kevin Bainey, was a key contributor to these guidelines as both the Guidelines Panel co-chair and lead author. The […]
A pair of recent publications in the Canadian Journal of Diabetes examined diabetes in pregnancy in Alberta. This research was conducted by CVC post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Deliwe Ngwezi, and was supervised by Drs. Padma Kaul and Anamaria Savu; other members of the team included Dr. Rose Yeung (University of Alberta) and Dr. Sonia Butalia (University […]
In the Ferric Carboxymaltose in Heart Failure with Iron Deficiency (HEART-FID) trial, 3065 ambulatory patients who had heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (a condition in which the heart is unable to pump out blood effectively) and iron deficiency, were randomized 1:1 to receive an intravenous iron supplementation called ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) or placebo, in addition […]
The Fall 2023 issue of the Canadian Cardiac Chronicle newsletter is now available! Highlights from this issue include: Read and subscribe to the newsletter here.
New research published in JAMA Network Open sought to examine whether outcomes for patients hospitalized with non-COVID-19 conditions but without concomitant SARS-CoV-2 infection were different before versus during the pandemic. The researchers compared patient hospitalizations between April 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019, with those from April 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021, in 235 acute care […]
Recently published in Circulation: Heart Failure, this secondary analysis of the VICTORIA trial emphasizes the importance of selecting high-risk patients with heart failure (HF) with potentially modifiable cardiovascular events in order to diversify and enrich the study population. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate changes to N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), a protein produced by […]
ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) occurs when a coronary artery is completely blocked, and it is often the most dangerous and severe type of heart attack. The STREAM-2 (Strategic Reperfusion in Elderly Patients Early After Myocardial Infarction) study, recently published in Circulation, sought to determine if a pharmoco-invasive treatment with half-dose tenecteplase, a clot-busting drug used to prevent death in […]
In this secondary analysis of the VICTORIA trial published in Circulation: Heart Failure, researchers investigated if the primary composite outcome of cardiovascular death or heart failure (HF) hospitalization was related to variations in background use and dosing of guideline-directed medical therapy in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), a condition in which the heart is unable […]
Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) measures the heart’s ability to pump blood out of the left ventricle, and can help determine if a patient is at risk for heart failure (HF). Published in JACC: Heart Failure, this study evaluated the relationship of LVEF with biomarker levels (markers within the body measuring the presence of a […]
The current system for classifying patients with heart failure (HF) is dependent upon the confirmation of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), a measurement of the heart’s ability to pump blood from the left ventricle. While patients with HF can be identified through the use of electronic medical records, the data on LVEF is oftentimes unavailable. […]
Although many severe outcomes associated with COVID-19 have lessened with each successive wave, a recent study reveals that there is a persistent increased risk for cardiovascular hospitalization, especially among younger men between the ages of 18 and 65. This retrospective cohort study utilized Ontario administrative health databases to analyze data from adults who had at least one […]
The Spring 2023 issue of the Canadian Cardiac Chronicle newsletter is now available! Highlights from this issue include: Read and subscribe to the newsletter here.
We are pleased to share the 2022 CVC Annual Report! The theme of this year’s report – Patient Centered. Data Driven. – illustrates the many ways that the CVC’s extensive body of research utilizes data to inform patient care and improve outcomes for those with cardiovascular disease. In a world where the volume, velocity, and variety of […]
A pharmaco-invasive strategy that halved the dose of tenecteplase in older ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients resulted in better reperfusion than primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Reperfusion was measured by electrocardiographic data in the ECG core laboratory at the Canadian VIGOUR Centre (CVC), University of Alberta (U of A), and is a key component of […]
CVC founding director Dr. Paul Armstrong and Dr. Jon Meddings (former dean of the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary) have published an op-ed in the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal about how a pandemic of misinformation threatens hard-earned lessons of Alberta’s health-care community. Read the full article here
