With the help of 1.5-tesla cardiac MRI, German researchers have found that the human heart adapts to triathlon training by developing greater muscle mass and wall thickness, as well as larger left atria and larger right and left ventricles, according to a study to be published in the October issue of Radiology.  

When balancing the risks of radiation dose exposure from CT angiography with the risks associated with a cardiac catheterization procedure, pediatric radiologists in Taiwan are selecting the CT exam for neonates with complex congenital heart disease. The procedure is noninvasive and fast and requires minimal or no sedation.  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Aug 26 - Rapid fluid replacement "remarkably" improves detection of patent foramen ovale by transesophageal echocardiography, a multicenter team reports in the American Journal of Cardiology online August 13.  

A nuclear medicine protocol with two radiopharmaceuticals can identify high-risk cardiac patients and help physicians determine which patients are best suited for implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy, according to a study in the August issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.  

A low-dose coronary CT angiography (CTA) technique known as adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) can reduce the radiation dose associated with coronary CTA by 27%, according to a study published online August 20 in the American Journal of Roentgenology.  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Aug 18 - Although studies suggest that off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is better than on-pump, a study from Portugal showed that off-pump patients had higher rates of early graft occlusion.  

The Houston-based Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication (SHAPE), which wants to scrap population-based cardiac risk assessment in favor of imaging-based evaluation of each individual, said it will release new guidelines at the November American Heart Association meeting in Chicago.  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Aug 13 - Dual-source CT accurately identifies significant coronary artery disease in patients with rate-controlled atrial fibrillation, researchers from Germany report in the July 11 online issue of European Heart Journal.  

Radiologists often fail to report coronary calcium detected on chest CT scans. By ignoring it, they miss not only the chance to detect potentially serious heart disease, but an important opportunity to evaluate the chances of lowering a patient's risk of heart attack with treatment.  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Aug 11 - When cardiac resynchronization improves left ventricular function in heart failure patients, it improves their cerebral blood flow as well, a small study has shown.  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Aug 10 - Contrary to earlier concerns, using contrast agents in echocardiography does not lead to more myocardial infarctions (MIs) or deaths, a new meta-analysis has shown.  

A new study of interventional cardiologists and nurses in Malaysia found five times the rate of cataracts in the group compared to controls, suggesting that current radiation protection thresholds may be too high to protect providers from harm.  

Borrowing a technique from the virtual colonoscopy playbook, researchers from South Carolina and Germany found that coronary CT angiography (CTA) is better than previously thought compared to catheter-based coronary angiography -- in fact the two tests are essentially equivalent, they said.  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Aug 3 - A new technique for measuring blood perfusion reserve with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) improves the evaluation of three-vessel coronary artery disease and identifies scarred myocardium supplied by a severely narrowed artery.  

In a study that probes what may be the largest database of detailed coronary CT angiography (CTA) results assembled to date, New York City researchers found an integral association between coronary artery disease and mortality at coronary CTA in patients without known heart disease.  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Jul 27 - Young adult survivors of childhood cancer have an "alarmingly" high rate of subclinical cardiac dysfunction, researchers reported July 26 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.