Cardiology

In the first year after a heart transplant, Black adults between the ages of 18 and 30 are more than twice as likely to die compared to non-Black recipients, according to research findings published Feb. 2 in Circulation: Heart Failure. 

Phoenix Children's Hospital is now an accredited adult congenital heart disease comprehensive care center.

Cardiologists are routinely subjected to a range of ethical considerations, with the COVID-19 pandemic spurring a number of new questions, according to Medscape's 2020 Cardiology Ethics Report published Jan. 29. 

Researchers from Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and AliveCor, a cardiology-focused medical device company, developed an artificial intelligence-powered EKG device to identify patients at risk of sudden cardiac death, according to a Feb. 1 news release.

Matt Wolff, MD, a cardiologist at Madison, Wis.-based UW Health, received a joint heart-kidney transplant last October, becoming one of only five patients to undergo the procedure at the health system last year, reports the Wisconsin State Journal. 

Cigna will no longer require prior authorization for some CT scans of the heart, according to an updated precertification list. The change is effective Feb. 1.

Within its value-based Blue Premier initiative, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina launched a program focused on lowering costs and improving outcomes for kidney care, the insurer said Jan. 28. 

A list of cardiologists who recently joined new practices was Becker's most-read cardiology story in January.

Four major heart organizations issued a joint statement Jan. 28 urging the medical community to advocate for air pollution mitigation, citing the association between increased heart disease risk and air pollution.

Two pediatric cardiologists will co-lead the nation's first long-term clinical trial for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, a rare inflammatory condition potentially linked to COVID-19, reports The Salt Lake Tribune.