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. [click link for full article]

For the first time, researchers have used adult bone marrow stem cells to regenerate healthy human liver tissue, according to a study published in the April issue of the journal Radiology.When large, fast-growing cancers invade the liver, some patients are unable to undergo surgery, because removing the cancerous tissue would leave too little liver to support the body. [click link for full article]

Heart surgeons don’t have to choose between taking a coronary-bypass patient off the popular anti-clotting drug clopidogrel (Plavix) after off-pump heart bypass surgery or having the patient bleed excessively in the days following surgery, according to a new study by researchers at Jefferson Medical College. [click link for full article]

Heart attacks are caused by a build-up and instability of plaque in the coronary arteries, which is often a result of chronic inflammation of the blood vessel walls. A study presented recently at the American College of Cardiology’s 56th Annual Scientific Session assessed whether adding a novel agent with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties to optimal medical therapy would reduce coronary events and death among patients with heart disease. ACC. [click link for full article]

Researchers at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) announced recently that they have identified a critical genetic factor in the control of many aspects of heart form and function. As reported in the journal Cell, scientists in the lab of Deepak Srivastava, MD, have successfully deleted a genetic factor, called a microRNA, in animal models to understand the role it plays in cardiovascular differentiation and development. [click link for full article]

In studies in mouse models, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have found that a cellular receptor involved in triggering cell death is also a necessary component of tissue repair and regeneration immediately following liver injury. This discovery could have implications for early intervention or therapy in liver disease such as cirrhosis or hepatitis. [click link for full article]

High consumption of trans fat, found mainly in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and widely used by the food industry, has been linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). New York and Philadelphia have passed measures eliminating its use in restaurants, and other cities are considering similar bans. A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) provides the strongest association to date between trans fat and heart disease. It found that women in the U.S. [click link for full article]

Three studies presented recently at the American College of Cardiology’s Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit 2007 in New Orleans, La., highlight the breadth of research propelling advances in clinical cardiology. Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit is an annual meeting for practicing cardiovascular interventionalists sponsored by the American College of Cardiology in partnership with the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. [click link for full article]

Both emergency and non-emergency care of cardiovascular disease have continually improved over the past decade, thanks to improved quality of care, novel procedures and better therapies. In particular, research on improved care of cardiovascular disease shows noticeable improvements with a combination of drug and risk factor interventions. [click link for full article]

While millions of Americans suffer from severe cardiac dysfunction, only about 3,000 heart transplants are possible each year. In the meantime, doctors are trying to identify new combinations of medicines and interventions that will increase survival rates among this high-risk population. [click link for full article]