Heart to Heart, May 2010

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Heart to Heart, June 2010

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Heart to Heart, June 2010

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Heart to Heart, July 2010

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Heart to Heart, August 2010

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Heart to Heart, September 2010

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Heart to Heart, October 2010

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Heart to Heart, November 2010

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Heart to Heart, December 2010

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Heart to Heart, January 2011

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Heart to Heart, February 2011

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Heart to Heart, March 2011

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.

Survival and health in liveborn infants with transposition of great arteries--a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe treatment, survival, and morbidity for liveborn infants with isolated transposition of great arteries (TGA). DESIGN: Population-based data from 7 European registries of congenital malformations (EUROCAT). RESULTS: Ninety-seven infants were diagnosed with isolated TGA and livebirth prevalence was 2.0 per 10,000 livebirths. The majority of infants were treated with prostaglandins (83%) and 57% had a catheter atrial septostomia performed. Arterial switch surgery was performed in 78 infants, other or unknown type of surgery was performed in 3 cases, and for 6 infants there was no information on surgery. At 1 year of age 69 infants were alive (71%) and 24 (25%) were dead (4 unknown). There were 10 deaths before surgery and 58% of all deaths took place during the first week. There was no statistically significant regional difference in mortality. Eight infants diagnosed prenatally all survived to 1 year and only 71% of infants diagnosed after birth survived (P = 0.08). Data on morbidity at 1 year of age was available for 57 infants. Fifty-one infants were reported with normal health and development. CONCLUSIONS: In this population-based study survival for liveborn infants with TGA is lower than in studies published from tertiary centers. Outcome for survivors at 1 year of age seems favorable.

Resting heart rate and the risk of heart failure in healthy adults: the rotterdam study.

Background- An elevated resting heart rate is associated with rehospitalization for heart failure and is a modifiable risk factor in heart failure patients. We aimed to examine the association between resting heart rate and incident heart failure in a population-based cohort study of healthy adults without pre-existing overt heart disease. Methods and Results- We studied 4768 men and women aged ≥55 years from the population-based Rotterdam Study. We excluded participants with prevalent heart failure, coronary heart disease, pacemaker, atrial fibrillation, atrioventricular block, and those using β-blockers or calcium channel blockers. We used extended Cox models allowing for time-dependent variation of resting heart rate along follow-up. During a median of 14.6 years of follow-up, 656 participants developed heart failure. The risk of heart failure was higher in men with higher resting heart rate. For each increment of 10 beats per minute, the multivariable adjusted hazard ratios in men were 1.16 (95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.28; P=0.005) in the time-fixed heart rate model and 1.13 (95% confidence interval, 1.02-1.25; P=0.017) in the time-dependent heart rate model. The association could not be demonstrated in women (P for interaction=0.004). Censoring participants for incident coronary heart disease or using time-dependent models to account for the use of β-blockers or calcium channel blockers during follow-up did not alter the results. Conclusions- Baseline or persistent higher resting heart rate is an independent risk factor for the development of heart failure in healthy older men in the general population.

Heart to Heart, April 2011

Heart to Heart is a publication on new heart disease and stroke information and other related topics by the Department of Public Health.