Green Bay, Wis.-based Prevea Health cardiologists recently became among the first in the state to provide protected stenting procedures using the Impella heart pump, the system said Dec. 29. 

Below are 11 cardiologists who recently joined new practices or stepped into new roles. 

Recent cardiology studies have focused on the link between exposure to toxic metals and clogged arteries, blood pressure readings during the height of the pandemic and more.

Shreveport, La.-based Christus Highland Medical Center completed the facility's first minimally invasive robotic-assisted heart surgery on Dec. 16.

Aurora-based Children's Hospital Colorado recently became the first pediatric hospital in the world to use a 3D intracardiac echocardiography catheter in the treatment of congenital heart disease. 

Jersey City Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, expanded its cardiovascular program by introducing a computed tomography artificial intelligence to evaluate the presence of coronary artery disease.

Heart centers across the nation continue to reach milestones with a variety of procedures. 

Four hospitals and health systems have recently opened cardiac catheterization labs and other specialty heart centers. 

Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network's Cardiovascular Institute opened a new cardiac catheterization laboratory, TribLive reported Dec. 15.

Dallas-based Medical City Heart Hospital recently performed the first heart transplant using a new technique known as donation after cardiac death, or DCD, in Texas, the hospital said Dec. 15. 

The former chief of cardiovascular surgery at Doylestown (Pa.) Hospital has launched a GoFundMe campaign in an effort to raise enough money to sue the hospital over his firing, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

The American Heart Association has invested $10 million in grants to fund studies that evaluate COVID-19's long-term effects on heart and brain health. 

The Piedmont Heart Institute, part of Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare, hired nine cardiovascular specialists this year, the health system said Dec. 13. 

A round-up of the nation's best hospitals for heart care was Becker's most-read cardiology story in 2021. 

Surgeons at California-based Stanford Children's Health recently performed the organization's 500th pediatric heart transplant.

Gender, race and ethnicity should not be factors for cardiologists deciding whether invasive heart procedures should be performed on patients, according to a new guideline issued Dec. 9  from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology. 

Austin, Texas-based St. David’s Medical Center physicians were among the first in the U.S. to implant the Barostim System, a new neurostimulator technology used to help treat advanced heart failure, the hospital said Dec. 9.

Since the start of 2021, hospitals and health systems across the U.S. have performed many novel cardiology procedures.

Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Berks County, Pa., announced a new electrophysiology laboratory opened Dec. 7 to treat patients with cardiac rhythm disturbances. 

The American College of Cardiology named Ami Bhatt, MD, as chief innovation officer, the organization said Dec. 7.