Latest Medical Breakthroughs in Cardiology: What This Means For Your Patients

If you’re a practicing cardiologist, it can be challenging to keep up with the latest updates in your field. Managing your patient load while making time to read every journal that pings your inbox can seem like wishful thinking. 

In this article, we’ll pull highlights from some of the latest medical research breakthroughs in cardiology and explore how Juisci can help you stay current—even with your busy schedule.

Increasing patient adherence to anticoag therapy

When it comes to increasing patient adherence to an anticoag therapy, clinicians are often left scratching their heads. In a study published this year in the Annals of Medicine, researchers investigated the baseline factors associated with poor adherence after ischemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). 

The researchers noted that non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOAC) have superior safety and comparable efficacy profile as compared to vitamin-K antagonists (VKAs), with more convenient dosing schemes. However, the issues with patient adherence to the NOACs persisted.

What the researchers found may surprise you. The results indicated that adherence was poor in half of AF patients who survived an ischemic stroke. Rather than the composite scores, the independent patient-related factors, such as tertiary education, absence of heart failure, and smoking history, were associated with poor adherence in these patients.

Click here to read more about this study.

How sleep affects inflammation and cardiovascular mortality

Everyone knows that getting a good night’s sleep helps us wake up refreshed—but sleep is also really great for your heart health. According to a recent study published by AJPC, optimal sleep can have a positive impact on reducing inflammation and cardiovascular mortality.

In this 2021 study, researchers evaluated the association between sleep duration, C-reactive protein (CRP), baseline CV risk, and incident CV mortality. They used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey linked with the cause of death data from the National Center for Health Statistics for adults.

The results indicated that a sleep duration of six to seven hours was the most optimal for heart health. Participants who reported less than six or greater than seven hours of sleep had a higher risk of CV death attributable to inflammation, after accounting for confounders. These findings suggest an important relationship between sleep duration, inflammation, and CV risk.

Click here to read more about this study.

Using EWT to identify the COVID-19 virus

COVID-19 spread is increasing day-by-day, and new variants, such as Omicron, are surfacing. The rapid spread of COVID-19 infections worldwide has forced doctors to look to automated detection to reduce the burden on clinicians. A recent study looked at the efficacy of using empirical wavelet transformation (EWT) and transfer learning for identifying COVID-19.

Currently, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), chest computerized tomography (CT) imaging options are an extremely useful tool to classify COVID-19. However, interpreting the results is a time-intensive process and requires the expertise of a radiologist. During a pandemic, hospitals are lacking the time or manpower to manually examine each scan for signs of the virus.

The results of this study indicate that researchers have found a new, automated method for classifying COVID-19 results from CT scan images. EWT preprocesses and selects the best components of the red, green, and blue channels of the image to determine whether the patient is positive or negative for the virus. Hopefully, hospitals can begin to use these automated image processing tools as an effective way to identify COVID-19 in patients.

Click here to read more about this study.

How Juisci can help you stay up-to-date

If you enjoyed these bite-sized summaries, you’ll enjoy using the Juisci app to keep up-to-date with the latest updates in your field. Juisci’s AI-powered platform distills and curates relevant information, so you’ll never miss an update.

Read or listen to summaries of up-to-the-minute breakthroughs—all within two minutes and straight from your phone. Download Juisci today.