Cardiovascular

Blood transfusion for PCI associated with increased risk of cardiac event
In an analysis that included more than two million patients who underwent a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries), there was considerable variation in red blood cell transfusion practices among hospitals across the U.S., and receiving a transfusion was associated with an increased risk of in-hospital heart attack, stroke or death, according to a study in the February 26 issue of JAMA. MedicalXpress

Is therapeutic hypothermia beneficial in all patients following cardiac arrest?
Whole body cooling in comatose patients who have suffered a heart attack can limit the damage to brain tissue caused by the restoration of blood flow and oxygen. But new data indicate that in certain patients therapeutic hypothermia is less effective and may even worsen neurological outcomes, as described in an article in Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc

Young steroid users at increased risk of heart disease
Steroid abuse is associated with increased risk of heart disease in otherwise healthy young men, an Australian study of deaths involving the drugs has found.

Researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at UNSW and the New South Wales Department of Forensic Medicine examined all 24 steroid-related deaths in NSW between 1996 - 2012. Extensive heart disease, including left ventricular hypertrophy and thickening of the arteries, was present in half the cases. This is notable considering the sample comprised exclusively of men aged 22-48 years, with an average age of 32. MedicalXpress