A simple exercise test may help predict mortality risk in patients with heart failure and help doctors to better tailor treatment strategies, according to new research from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Doctors at UPMC have begun a study using an investigational cardiac device, the VentrAssistâ„¢ Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAD) to see whether it can be used safely and effectively in patients with end-stage heart failure.

Protected by its own nutrients and blood supply, a beating heart supported by an investigational organ preservation device was successfully transplanted into a 47-year-old man with congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension on Sunday, April 8.

A study to be published in an upcoming edition of the journal of Cardiovascular Toxicology reveals Pycnogenol natural pine bark extract from the French maritime pine tree, helps prevent damage that high blood pressure causes to the heart.

Heart-failure patients take their medicine more reliably when under the care of a pharmacist, resulting in fewer emergency-room visits and hospital stays as well as lower health-care costs, according to a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy.

A novel catheter technique for patching holes in the heart may make it possible for many patients to avoid surgery altogether and others to regain enough strength to safely undergo surgical repair at a later date, according to a study reported at the 30th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, May 9-12, 2007, in Orlando, FL.

Keeping healthy heart beating requires the production of constant supply of energy, feat depending on coordination of several genetic programs. Now, researchers report in May issue of Cell Metabolism, publication of Cell Press, that two closely related receptors can act together or separately to pull all of the strings. Drugs that influence these newfound global orchestrators of heart function might offer novel approach to managing heart muscl ediseases, according to the researchers.

A naturally occurring molecule in the body appears to control whether certain medications, such as beta adrenergic receptor agonists used in acute heart failure or in inhalers for asthma, lose their effectiveness over time.

UCLA researchers tracked heart failure in-hospital patient trends from 2002 to 2004 for 285 hospitals nationwide and found significant changes in treatment patterns and quality-of-care indicators that paralleled improvements in clinical outcomes and mortality. The study highlights the need for further efforts to accelerate improvements in care for heart failure patients.

Statin drugs, known primarily for their ability to lower cholesterol, also may reduce the overactive sympathetic nervous system response that contributes to the worsening of heart failure and increases the risk of sudden cardiac death, two University of Missouri-Columbia researchers have found. Heart failure is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States.

More than 30 percent of patients who suffer heart failure die within one year, but education and support programs have been shown to improve that statistic.

An herbal medicinal substance, Crataegus Extract WS®1442, safely extends the lives of congestive heart failure patients already receiving pharmacological treatment for the disease, according to a study presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 56th Annual Scientific Session. Crataegus Extract WS®1442 is an extract of leaves of the Crataegus tree, and is a natural antioxidant.