In Global News: World Heart Day, Treating Rheumatic Heart Disease in Rwanda, and TAVR Versus SAVR at TCT

Patient Care and General Interest

Saturday, September 29 is World Heart Day! This year’s theme is “My Heart, Your Heart.”

Gerald D. Buckberg, MD, a renowned heart surgeon who made a major contribution in the field of myocardial protection, recently passed away.

Team Heart, a group of medical volunteers, visits Rwanda once a year to perform life-saving valve replacement procedures caused by rheumatic heart disease, which is prevalent in many African and Asian countries.

An atrial fibrillation procedure performed on a keen Hong Kong-based marathon runner saved him from a life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm and gave him renewed energy when training.

Research

Data presented at the recent TCT 2018 conference indicates that patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis and high risk of operative mortality who underwent TAVR had similar 5-year survival and stroke rates compared with those who underwent SAVR.

A study published in Pediatric Research indicates that neonates with congenital heart disease tend to have enlarged kidneys.

The BMI journal Heart has published research suggesting a link between mitral valve prolapse – a common condition – and sudden cardiac death.