Jefferson Study Evaluates “Triple Rule-Out” CT Scan for Acute Coronary Syndrome
(Published 7-18-2008) Chest pain is the second most common complaint when patients go to the emergency room, accounting for
six million visits annually. Determining the cause of patients’ symptoms whether it be a heart attack or some other life-threatening
entity like a blood clot in the lungs is challenging since the symptoms often overlap. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
is at the forefront of institutions evaluating a “triple rule-out” protocol with coronary computed tomographic angiography
(CCTA) for low-to-moderate risk patients presenting with symptoms suspicious for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The “triple
rule-out” CCTA provides a non-invasive, rapid and accurate approach for the proper diagnosis or exclusion of ACS.
Jefferson the First Hospital in Philadelphia to Use Next Generation Drug Eluting Stent since FDA Approval
(Published 7-15-2008) Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is the first hospital in Philadelphia to offer the next generation
of drug eluting stents for the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD). Recently approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration,
the XIENCE V Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System, has proven to be more effective in reducing adverse cardiac events
in recent clinical trials of patients with previous cases of CAD.
RED ALERT: Study Finds Chinese Food Good for Your Heart
(Published 6-9-2008) A clinical study on patients who have suffered a heart attack found that a partially purified extract
of Chinese red yeast rice, Xuezhikang (XZK), reduced the risk of repeat heart attacks by 45%, revascularization (bypass surgery/angioplasty),
cardiovascular mortality and total mortality by one-third and cancer mortality by two-thirds. The multicenter, randomized,
double-blind study, was conducted on almost 5,000 patients, ranging in age from 18-70 over a five-year period at over 60 hospitals
in the People's Republic of China. Corresponding author David M. Capuzzi, M.D., Ph.D, director of the Cardiovascular Disease
Prevention Program at Jefferson's Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine and Zonliang Lu, M.D., Ph.D, from the Fuwai Hospital
at the Chinese Academy of Medical Science report their findings in the June 15th edition of the American Journal of Cardiology.
Study Finds It Pays to be Heart Smart if Considering Hormone Therapy
(Published 5-22-2008) A research study has found that a simple blood test may indicate whether post-menopausal hormone therapies
present an elevated risk of a heart attack. The study, part of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), sponsored by the National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, was conducted in 40 centers nationwide and included
271 cases of coronary heart disease in the first four years of the trials of estrogen alone and of estrogen plus progestin.
Corresponding author Paul F. Bray, M.D., the Thomas Drake Martinez Cardeza Professor of Medicine, Director, Division of Hematology
at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and his co-authors report their findings in the June 1st edition
of the American Journal of Cardiology.
Jefferson Cardiologists Fix Broken Heart
(Published: 01-8-2008) Case Study Points out Rarely Diagnosed Potentially Fatal Complication of Heart Attack.
Targeted cancer drug poses heart risk
(Published: 12-17-2007, Philadelphia Inquirer) Another powerful new targeted cancer drug has been found to damage the heart,
prompting researchers to urge that all patients be closely monitored for high blood pressure and heart failure. Pfizer’s Sutent,
approved a year ago to treat a rare stomach cancer and advanced kidney cancer, is the latest in the growing arsenal of molecular-based
therapies that may cause collateral damage. Last year, a small increased risk of heart failure was linked to Gleevec, which
treats a type of leukemia.
“It’s still fair to say many of these agents are less toxic than traditional cancer drugs. They really have revolutionized
the treatment of some cancers,” said Thomas Force, M.D., James C. Wilson Professor of Medicine in the Center for Translational
Medicine and the Division of Cardiology at Jefferson Medical College, who coauthored the new Sutent study and led the earlier
work on Gleevec. “It appears that much of this [toxicity] is reversible if treated promptly.”
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Jefferson, Children’s Hospital Boston Researchers Show Another “Smart” Cancer Drug Can Have Toxic Effects on the Heart
(Published: 12-13-2007) Another FDA-approved targeted cancer drug, sunitinib (SutentTM, Pfizer), may be associated with cardiac toxicity, report researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
(Boston), and Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia). Their collaborative study, led by Ming Hui Chen, M.D., MMSc, a cardiologist
at Children’s who specializes in the cardiac health of cancer patients, appears in the December 15, 2007 issue of The Lancet, accompanied by an editorial.
Echocardiologist Ira S. Cohen, M.D., Joins Thomas Jefferson University’s Division of Cardiology
(Published: 11-28-2007) Ira S. Cohen, M.D., has been named director of the Electrocardiography Laboratory at Thomas Jefferson
University Hospital. He was also appointed clinical professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at Jefferson Medical
College of Thomas Jefferson University, joining the faculty after six years as a staff echocardiographer and attending cardiologist
at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, PA.
rchers at the Center for Translational Medicine at Jefferson Medical College have used gene therapy to reverse heart failure
in animals. In addition, they found that this gene therapy strategy had “unique and additive effects” to currently used, standard
heart failure drugs called beta-blockers.
Physicians skeptical of statin news
(Published: 07-10-2007, News Journal) A report in a New Zealand medical journal suggesting a possible link between statin
drugs and Lou Gehrig's disease needs more study, cardiologists say, before they would consider cutting back on prescribing
the popular cholesterol reducers. "I'm not hearing anything that's going to make me not use them because they've had such
a beneficial impact on patients," said Dr. Matthew DeCaro, director of the coronary care unit at Thomas Jefferson University
Hospital in Philadelphia, about an analysis published last month in the journal Drug Safety.
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Bare-Metal Stents are Better for Some Heart Patients, Jefferson Scientists Find
(Published: 05-11-2007) While drug-eluting stents are effective in keeping open diseased heart arteries, they should not be
used for patients who need to have non-cardiac surgery a short time after an interventional heart procedure. A presentation
at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions in Orlando by cardiologists at Jefferson Medical College indicates that for these patients, bare metal stents provide a safer choice.
Jefferson Researchers Report Heart Care at High-Volume Hospitals May Matter More to African American Patients
(Published: 05-11-2007) African American patients who undergo heart bypass surgery (CABG) in high-volume hospitals have more
benefit than white patients, according to a new study by researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.
Jefferson Scientists Confirm that Drug-Eluting Stents May Not Be For All Clogged Heart Vessels
(Published: 05-10-2007) Physicians know that drug-eluting stents are an effective way to ensure that a patient’s arteries
will remain open after balloon angioplasty. They also know that these devices have their limits—especially in keeping open
bypassed vein grafts with longer blockages. It is for these vessels, researchers at Jefferson Medical College say, that physicians
should consider alternative treatment strategies.
Jefferson Researchers Warn that Combining Common Blood-Thinning Therapies After Coronary Angioplasty May Cause a Deadly Problem
(Published: 05-4-2007) Physicians should examine the risk factors—for example, whether the patient is likely to experience
a stroke—before giving patients undergoing interventional heart procedures a combination of anti-blood clotting therapies,
according to a study from Jefferson Medical College.
Surgeons at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital are First in Pennsylvania to Implant Jarvik 2000 Heart Assist System in Heart
Failure Patient
(Published: 03-23-2007) On Monday morning, March 19, cardiac surgeons Scott Silvestry, M.D. and Linda Bogar, M.D. at Thomas
Jefferson University Hospital opened the chest of a 55-year-old man suffering from chronic heart failure and implanted a Jarvik
2000 Heart Assist System to save his life. The Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant team at Jefferson University
Hospital is the first in the state to implant the new device.
Jefferson Scientists Find that Drug-Eluting Stents Are Disappointing in Bypass Grafts--Sometimes
(Published: 03-23-2007) While drug-eluting stents are effective in keeping open bypassed heart veins that aren’t too diffuse
(filled with cholesterol plaque), a new study by cardiologists at Jefferson Medical College shows that they fare less well
in keeping open bypassed veins with longer blockages. The researchers suggest that doctors think twice before inserting the
drug-coated stents in such extensively diseased bypassed grafts.
Jefferson Scientists Find that Plavix Appears to be Safe During and After Heart Bypass
(Published: 03-23-2007) Heart surgeons don’t have to choose between taking a coronary-bypass patient off the popular anti-clotting
drug clopidogrel (Plavix) after off-pump heart bypass surgery or having the patient bleed excessively in the days following
surgery, according to a new study by researchers at Jefferson Medical College.
Meet Eagle Jeremiah Trotter and Chef Susannah Foo at Jefferson HeartCARE Expo
(Published: 03-14-3007) Meet Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter and renowned celebrity chef and restaurant owner
Susanna Foo, all while learning about heart health!
EAGLES AND JEFFERSON HOSPITAL ARE THE HEARTBEAT OF YOUR TEAM!
(Published: 02-9-2007) New program between Philadelphia’s Eagles and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital kicks off at Jewish
Community Center on February 27
Cardiovascular Disease
(Published: 2-1-2007, CBS 3) Cardiovascular disease kills nearly a half a million women every year. Yet, detecting the disease
isn't always easy because the warning signs for women aren't always recognized.
Matthew DeCaro, M.D., cardiologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital says symptoms in women can be different from what
men feel.
"If you're having symptoms that you think are potentially heart related you shouldn't wait at all,” he warns. “You need to
be seen right away. Because if in fact this is an acute coronary syndrome, minutes count."
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Jefferson’s New Aortic Center Provides Most Advanced Technologies for Treatment of Aortic Aneurysms
(Published: 01-23-2007) Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has opened a new center that will provide patients access to
the most advanced technologies available in the treatment of aortic aneurysms, dissections and other maladies anywhere in
the body.
This surgical lubricant has an Old World flavor
(Published: 12-25-2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer) The unlikely use of an olive oil emulsion has helped cardiologists at
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital when inserting stents into problem arteries.
"We found that this emulsion is a safe, simple and effective aid for stent delivery in the rare cases where stents could not
be previously inserted," said Dr. Michael Savage, director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Jefferson.
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Drug Effective in Reversing a Deadly Problem During Coronary Angioplasty, Jefferson Cardiologists Find
(Published 10-10-2006) Researchers in the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Thomas Jefferson University have found that
nicardipine, a commonly available calcium channel blocker, is effective in reversing the ‘no-reflow’ phenomenon that affects
as many as 50,000 patients annually who undergo angioplasty—a procedure to clear arteries that have been clogged up or narrowed
by plaque.
Jefferson Scientists Find Boosting Protein Levels Staves Off Heart Failure
(Published: 09-20-2006) Boosting levels of a protein in the heart might help protect against the development of heart failure,
particularly in those who have had heart attacks.
Jefferson Researchers Find Potential Biomarker for Heart Failure
(Published: 09-11-2006) A team of cardiology researchers at Thomas Jefferson University has determined that GRK2, a protein
that plays an important regulatory role in heart failure, is elevated in patients with failing hearts when compared to patients
with normal heart function.
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Local man has a great heart
(Published: 07-13-2006, Northeast Times) Three weeks ago, John McAroy, a 33-year-old heart transplant patient at Thomas Jefferson
University Hospital, received a heart through the Gift of Life Donor Program.
“His prognosis is excellent,” says Paul Mather, M.D., Director of the Advanced Heart Failure Center at Thomas Jefferson University
Hospital. “Young men aren’t supposed to get heart disease. Without modern technology, he wouldn’t have been alive. He was
able to get one great gift of life that a donor and his family gave.”
“For eight and a half months, the only people I saw the most were the nurses,” McAroy said. “They held my hand and said it
was going to be all right. I never doubted when I rolled into the operating room that I would open my eyes again. If you need
to be sick, this hospital is the place to be,” he said of Jefferson.
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Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Ranked Best Hospital in Philadelphia for Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Medicine by
U.S.News & World Report
(Published: 07-10-2006) Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has been ranked as the top hospital in Philadelphia for orthopaedics
and rehabilitation medicine by U.S.News & World Report in their 2006 Best Hospitals survey.
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Long walks made him ideal transplant recipient
(Published: 07-07-2006, Gloucester County Times) John McAroy a heart transplant patient at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
walked the halls of the fifth floor at Jefferson for eight and a half months waiting for a new heart. What seemed like little,
IV-attached steps, resulted in 115 pounds of weight loss and produced a body healthy enough for a heart transplant.
Paul Mather, M.D., Director of the Advanced Heart Failure Center at the Jefferson Heart Institute, said "John is the one and
only patient I have seen in 14 years, to make that kind of commitment to getting into the best shape possible for surgery."
Dr. Mather saw a great transformation by McAroy, describing him as "nearly dead" when he came in, but now one of the most
motivated people he has ever met.
"Everyone from the nurses to the cooking and cleaning staff were so wonderful to me," McAroy said. "When they said I was going
to get through something, I believed them. They took great care of me."
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U.S.News & World Report Ranks Jefferson’s Family and Community Medicine Department Among the Nation’s Best
(Published: 05-17-2006)U.S.News & World Report has ranked the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University as
one of America’s best Departments of Family Medicine.
Simulator Allows Doctors to Experience Heart Failure
(Published: 04-24-2006, NBC10.com, ABC6.com) Doctors and nurses who treat heart-failure patients had an opportunity to experience
what heart failure is really like for their patients inside the Heart FXPod, which stopped at Thomas Jefferson University
Hospital recently.
After undergoing the experience, Jefferson Heart Failure specialist, Dr. Siva Srinivasan said he may now treat his patients
differently.
Dr. Paul Mather, Director of the Advanced Heart Failure Center at the Jefferson Heart Institute, explained "Everyone has sympathy
towards other human beings. I think that's part of our human element. But empathy, where you can actually feel what another
person is going through as opposed to just feeling sorry for them, is different. I think if we can marry that feeling to the
science of medicine, it will make for a better health care provider.”
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Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Provides Free Personal Health Management Tools to Community
(Published: 03-28-2006) Latest Technology Empowers Patients to Take Active Role in Their Care
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New device for fixing holes in hearts of young stroke patients
(Published: 03-14-2006, News-Medical.net) Patent Foramen Ovale, or PFO, is an opening in the upper wall of the heart which
did not close completely after birth. As many as one in four adults have this condition, yet they won’t know it until after
they suffer a stroke.
“We are all born with a PFO,” says Michael Savage, M.D., director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Thomas Jefferson
University Hospital. “For most of us, the opening closes within months after birth.” This opening may cause the blood in the
heart to be rerouted from the right to left side. As a result, if a clot forms in this rerouted blood and passes through the
PFO to the brain, a person may experience a stroke.
A study, led by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University found that a PFO closure device, delivered via catheter and positioned
on both sides of the PFO had a 99 percent closure success rate, and proved the device to be highly effective in preventing
a recurrent stroke.
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Results of Multicenter Study: Jefferson Scientists Test New Device for Fixing Holes in Hearts of Young Stroke Patients
(Published: 03-10-2006) As many as one in four adults is walking around with a “hole” between the upper chambers of the heart.
Most of them will never know it. The person who learns about the “hole” in his or her heart does so when he or she suffers
symptoms of a mini-stroke (TIA) or a more-debilitating stroke. And it is usually only then that the person learns the term
Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), a persistent opening in the upper wall of the heart which did not close completely after birth.
Jefferson Scientists Find Topical Lubrication Improves Outcomes of Coronary Stent Procedures
(Published: 03-10-2006) An emulsion of olive oil, egg yolk and glycerine might be just the recipe to keep heart patients
away from the operating room and cardiac bypass surgery.
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5 Pains Women Should Not Ignore(Published: 03-1-2006, CBS3) Millions of women get so caught up in everyday activities that they don't always stop to listen
when their body is sending out an alarm. A seemingly inncocent stomach ache. Pain in the arm or shoulder. These symptoms may
be your body’s way of telling you to seek medical attention, according to Barbara Berko, M.D., cardiologist at Thomas Jefferson
University Hospital.
52-year-old Janet Green is the perfect example. For weeks she thought it was just a simple stomach ache and indigestion, until
the pain became severe.
“I was getting ready to have a massive heart attack,” said Green.
Jefferson cardiologist Dr. Barbara Berko said that is not the only heart related issue. The second symptom to watch is a pain
near your arm.
“Many people may experience pain in their arm or shoulder and think its something related to their arm or shoulder rather
than their heart,” said Dr. Berko.
Women account for nearly half of all heart attack deaths, but recognizing and responding quickly to your symptoms drastically
increases your chance of survival, she adds.
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Jefferson Heart Failure Specialist Offers Hope Against a Once Intractable Disease
(Published 2-10-2006) Heart failure is the only cardiac related disease that is actually growing in the United States. Yet
even though it is striking more and more patients at younger ages, there is reason for hope according to Sharon Rubin, M.D.,
a heart failure specialist at the Jefferson Heart Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Featured in the Media
Go Red For Women
(Published 2-3-06, CBS3) “Go Red For Women” campaign is aimed at alerting women that they may be as prone to heart disease
as men. Women’s heart problems, though, are often more difficult to diagnose.
“In men heart disease is usually easy to see, but women can have heart trouble that does not show up on an angiogram,” says
Marc Tecce, M.D., cardiologist at Thomas Jefferrson University Hospital.
He recommends that women should have heart imaging during a stress test, “Whether we do a nuclear stress test or an echocardiogram
or an ultra sound stress test we always pretty much have to do some type of heart imaging.”
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Jefferson Recruits Top Fundraiser
(Published: 01-31-2006) David R. Lepper is Newest Addition to Jefferson Executive Team
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Nice stethoscope. Now, learn to use it
(Published: 01-30-06, Los Angeles Times) The stethoscope may be a staple of the medical profession. But as a tool of the trade,
many veteran physicians fear it is becoming a useless prop of doctorhood.
“A lot of people have talked about the lost soul of medicine, how medicine has changed,” says Salvatore Mangione, M.D., associate
professor of pulmonary and critical care at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. “The demise of the bedside
examination and the refuge we seek in powerful technology is a symptom of that — we're becoming more technicians and less
healers.”
As few as 20 percent of new doctors and 40 percent of practicing primary-care doctors can discern the difference between a
healthy and a sick heart by simply listening to the heartbeat with a stethoscope. As a means of compensating for a lack of
proficiency with a stethoscope, many physicians are calling for an echocardiograph— basically an ultrasound imaging of the
beating heart that can cost up to $1,000 a shot.
“The stethoscope is really a symbol of medicine. And to have a symbol of medicine become a vestigial device is very surprising,”
Howard Weitz, M.D., associate professor of cardiology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University says.
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Thomas Force, M.D., Named Clinical Director of Jefferson Center for Translational Medicine
(Published: 01-25-2006) Internationally recognized cardiologist and researcher, Thomas L. Force, M.D., has been named clinical
director of the Center for Translational Medicine, an initiative of the Department of Medicine of Jefferson Medical College
of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.
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Side Effects of Anti-Inflammatories
(Published 1-9-2006, KYW-TV(CBS)) Anti-inflammatories are taken by millions of Americans every day, including Vice-President
Dick Cheney. Yet, warns Marc Tecce, M.D., cardiologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, they do have some side effects
people who take them should be aware of.
Anti-inflammatories are used to reduce painful swelling customarily for things like arthritis and headaches. “In healthy people
they do not typically cause a problem,” Dr. Tecce clarified, “although for people with heart disease, such as the Vice-President,
anti-inflammatories may have some side effects. The most common side effect customarily attributed to anti-inflammatories
is an upset stomach.
“They also tend to decrease the amount of blood flow to the kidney which can cause a fluid buildup.” The fluid build-up and
shortness or breath are often related to the heart and apparently the reasons why Vice-President Cheney was rushed to the
hospital.
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Heart Scan for Health(Published: 01-6-2006, KWY) A high tech tool is being used to search out calcium plaque, a newly discovered bad boy in the
war against heart disease.
The CT scan produces something called a calcium score.
The specialized x-ray machine takes detailed pictures of the heart and blood vessels.
Dr. Ethan Halpern, a radiologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, said the fast improving technology is being used
in conjunction with traditional measures like blood pressure and cholesterol to determine someone’s risk.
“The calcium score adds additional information, above and beyond that which they would get from traditional risk factor evaluation,”
said Dr. Halpern.
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