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WEBHeart. is an international journal from BMJ and BCS publishing important research and reviews in cardiovascular disease. Heart is an international peer reviewed journal that keeps cardiologists up to date with important research advances in cardiovascular disease. New scientific developments are highlighted in editorials and put in context with ...
Treating patients with ventricular ectopic beats | Heart
WEBVentricular ectopic beats (VEBs) are commonly seen in daily clinical practice. They are largely asymptomatic but can cause upsetting symptoms in some patients. In normal hearts, their occurrence is usually associated with no clinical significance. However, there are occasions where the presence of VEBs signifies a susceptibility towards more sinister arrhythmias, especially when heart disease ...
Bradyarrhythmias in patients with atrial fibrillation | Heart
WEBThe increasing burden of atrial fibrillation (AF) and significant morbidity/mortality associated with this arrhythmia encourage screening it in clinical practice, as recommended in current guidelines. It means opportunistic screening (in patients over 65 years) or systematic screening (in people above 75 years) by using clinical examination, followed by an ECG, 24-hour ECG monitoring or ...
Right heart catheterisation: indications and interpretation
WEB### Learning objectives Significant improvements in the diagnostic power and availability of non-invasive cardiac imaging techniques, in addition to evidence of potential harm associated with pulmonary artery (PA) catheterisation in patients in critical care, have led to a decline in right heart catheterisation (RHC) over recent years.1 RHC, however, remains an important tool in a cardiologist ...
Angina: contemporary diagnosis and management - Heart
WEB### Learning objectives Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) remains the leading global cause of death and lost life years in adults, notably in younger (<55 years) women.1 Angina pectoris (derived from the Latin verb ‘angere’ to strangle) is chest discomfort of cardiac origin. It is a common clinical manifestation of IHD with an estimated prevalence of 3%–4% in UK adults. There are over 250 ...
Assessment and management of peripheral arterial disease: what …
WEB### Learning objectives Peripheral artery disease (PAD) typically refers to atherosclerotic narrowing and/or occlusion of all arterial disease other than coronary arteries and the aorta (carotid and vertebral arteries, coeliac and mesenteric arteries, renal arteries and upper and lower limb arteries) (figure 1). As a manifestation of systemic atherosclerosis, PAD is associated with greatly ...
Calcium and vitamin D supplement: right or wrong? - Heart
WEBIntuitively, one might think that supplementing vitamins and minerals would be the right thing to do especially in older and comorbid people. Every year, billions of dollars are spent in this belief.1 However, we may all be wrong. A present study in this journal demonstrates a significantly increased cardiovascular (CV) mortality in elderly patients supplementing calcium, be it with or without ...
About - Heart
WEBAims and scope. Heart is an international peer reviewed journal that keeps cardiologists up to date with important research advances in cardiovascular disease. New scientific developments are highlighted in editorials and put in context with concise review articles. There is one free Editor’s Choice article in each issue, with open access ...
Management of premature ventricular complexes | Heart
WEBIntroduction. Premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) are the most common arrhythmias in daily practice. At the cellular level, ventricular myocytes spontaneously depolarise to create an extrasystole ‘out of sync’ with the cardiac cycle. 1 The prevalence depends on the characteristics and comorbidities of the population, the method by which the population is studied and the duration of ...
Does aspirin save lives in patients with COVID-19? - Heart
WEB‘An aspirin a day keeps the heart attack away’, is this also true in the prevention of thrombotic events associated with COVID-19? The rising COVID-19 pandemic has led to much work in the understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease. COVID-19 infection is thought to be an endothelial disease. Supporting this concept, it has been suggested that infection with SARS-CoV-2, the ...