FEBRUARY IS HEART MONTH HEART HIGHLIGHTS: CARDIAC & VASCULAR INSTITUTE AT NYU LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER

HEALTHY BEHAVIORS:

Heart Fair by NYU Cardiac & Vascular Institute

NYU Langone Medical Center’s Heart Health Fair will be held Thursday, February 18^th, 2010 at Alumni Hall located at 550 First Avenue from 10am - 3pm (between 30^th and 32^nd Streets). The health and wellness program is open to the public and sponsored by the NYU Cardiac & Vascular Institute.  It will offer free screenings for blood pressure, BMI (Body Mass Index) and bone density.  Instructors will demonstrate CPR, as well as Tai Chi and reflexology (as ways to increase circulation).   Information on topics such as, exercise, risk factors, healthy eating, and smoking cessation will be available. This day will help individuals learn about their personal risk of heart disease, including ways to help reduce it through healthy eating, exercise, stress reduction, and awareness of personal risk factors.

- Stuart Katz, MD, director, Heart Failure Program.

- Eugenia Gianos, MD, Women's Heart Center

- Lawrence Phillips, MD, Cardiac Exercise/Stress Lab

Women Versus Men When It Comes to Heart Attack

Nieca Goldberg, MD, and Jennifer Mieres, MD, are available to discuss the differences in heart attack symptoms between men and women. Classic heart attack symptoms include shortness of breast and chest tightness are more likely to be exhibited by men.  Women experiencing heart attacks are more likely to have non-classic symptoms including extreme fatigue, dizziness and nausea.  In fact, a recent studies show that women are  more likely than men to experience delays in treatment, or less aggressive treatment.  For example, scientists found that women who called 911 were about 50% more likely than men to experience delays getting to the hospital after an ambulance arrives. Another study showed that women are more than twice as likely as men to die when hospitalized with the most serious type of heart attack.

- Nieca Goldberg, MD, clinical associate professor,  Department of Medicine, director, Women's Heart Center

- Jennifer Mieres, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Nuclear Cardiology

Know Your Numbers

Do you know your numbers and what they mean? Your numbers reflect your heart condition and include cholesterol levels, blood pressure and BMI (body mass index).  Not knowing your numbers could be playing cardiac roulette. Consider profiling a family working with Jonathan Whiteson, MD, who is the director of the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Program at NYU Langone Medical Center.  He helps patients record their numbers, improve them and achieve a better state of overall health.  

-Jonathan Whiteson, MD, assistant professor, Departments of Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine

Cutting Down on Salt Can Prevent Heart Disease

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a reduction of about 3 grams of salt of day is more cost-effective in treating high blood pressure than use of any blood pressure medications.  NYU Langone experts can talk about cutting salt and eating fewer calories as an effective way of preventing heart disease. 

- Nieca Goldberg, MD, clinical associate professor,  Department of Medicine, director, Women's Heart Center

- Howard S. Weintraub, MD, professor, Department of Medicine

IMAGING

Breakthrough Imaging Technology is Helping Cardiologists and Surgeons Better Treat Heart Disease

Radiologists are using new non-invasive CT and MRI technologies to see the heart in stunning 3-D images – making it possible for surgeons and cardiologists to better diagnose and treat heart disease.  The Flash CT is so fast that it allows patients to be scanned without using beta blockers.  In addition, a 5 minute MRI is in development which can give a comprehensive cardiac exam without exposing patients to radiation or X-rays.  While the CT scan looks at structure, the MRI determine function  – how the heart beats, how much blood is going through the heart and how significant blockages are.

-Alec Megibow, MD, MPH, professor, Department of Radiology

-Daniel Sodickson, MD, PhD, associate professor, Departments of Radiology, Physiology and Neuroscience

GENETICS

New Cardiovascular Genetics Program Launched to Fight Sudden Cardiac Death

Each year, 450,000 Americans die of SCD, or Sudden Cardiac Death, and approximately 30% of those deaths are caused by genetic defects of the heart. In order to help treat those at risk for the disease, NYU Langone Medical Center offers screening, counseling and treatment to patients who may be at risk for inherited conditions that cause disruptions in the heart's electrical system.  Silvia G. Priori, M.D., Ph.D., who has established the world's largest cardiac genetics laboratory, database and clinic at the University of Pavia in Italy, is partnering with Larry A. Chinitz, MD, director of NYU's Heart Rhythm Program, to identify patients of risk for sudden cardiac death. 

- Silvia G. Priori, MD, director, The NYU Cardiovascular Genetics Program

- Larry A Chinitz, MD, Cardiac Electrophysiology

CARDIAC ARREST

Hands Only CPR Can Improve Survival Rates

The American Heart Association has rewritten the guidelines for teaching and performing CPR for the layperson.  Though CPR can save lives, few bystanders actually know how to perform it when a cardiac arrest occurs outside a hospital.  They may be hesitant to perform it because it requires mouth – to – mouth breaths as part of the procedure.  New studies show that by eliminating mouth-to-mouth and executing chest compressions instead, survival rates can improve tremendously. In New York City the survival rate for cardiac arrest victims outside hospitals is about 2%, one of the lowest rates in the country.  Learning this technique can be a life saver. 

-Maureen Gang, MD, assistant professor, Department of Emergency Medicine and director of the NYU Langone Emergency Department

CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE

Dialysis for the Heart: 

You’ve heard of dialysis for kidneys to remove toxins and fluids from the body.  Now there is a new machine that allows for removal of fluids from the body caused by heart failure.   Heart failure, an abnormal pumping of the heart, affects 6 million Americans mostly between the ages of 50 and 80.  Abnormal heart beats often cause fatigue, shortness of breath and a most debilitating symptom -- extreme swelling of the extremities of the body.  This body swelling often leads to hospital admission and can be resistant to standard treatment with diuretic medicines.  Now, a new FDA approved machine, the CHF Solutions® Aquadex FlexFlow Fluid Removal System, mechanically removes the water from the body, helping patients feel better faster and cut down their stay in the hospital.  This Aquapheresis therapy is now available at NYU Langone Medical Center to help heart failure patients safely and effectively remove excess fluid accumulation.

-Stuart Katz, MD, The Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Professor of Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics, director, Heart Failure Program

NYU at Forefront of Catheter Ablation for Congestive Heart Failure Patients

NYU Langone Medical Center is at the forefront of catheter based treatment for common cardiac arrhythmias.  Recent studies have supported the efficacy of catheter ablation in patients with congestive heart failure and should significantly change the way common arrhythmias are treated. During cardiac ablation, a special machine delivers energy through a catheter to tiny areas of the heart muscle so that the abnormal heart rhythm is interrupted and returns to normal. 

-Larry A. Chinitz, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology,  Cardiac Electrophysiology

MITRAL VALVE REPAIR

New Study Reports Decade of Durable Results for Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Repair

NYU Langone Medical Center was the first institution to perform a minimally invasive mitral valve repair in 1996. Now, over a decade later, Aubrey C. Galloway, MD, chairman of cardiothoracic surgery and his team, have determined that long term outcomes of the procedure have proven successful.  After analyzing the surgery results of over 1000 patients from 1996 to 2008, doctors found that minimally invasive mitral valve repair results in less pain, blood loss and a shorter hospital stay than conventional surgery.  Today, 90 percent of patients in need of mitral valve repair have minimally invasive surgery at NYU Langone - even the elderly.

-Aubrey C. Galloway, MD, The Seymour Cohn Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, chair, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Robotic Heart Surgery comes to NYU Langone Medical Center

Didier F. Loulmet, MD, a cardiac surgeon and director of the Cardiac Robotics Program at NYU Langone Medical Center is now using the da Vinci Robot to perform minimally invasive mitral valve repair. He performed the first robotic mitral valve repair in the world in France and recently joined the NYU faculty. He is a pioneer in robotic assisted surgery, performing the world's first totally endoscopic robotic coronary artery bypass grafting in 1998 as well as the world's first totally endoscopic robotic pulmonary vein isolation in 2002. Dr. Loulmet also performed the world's first video-assisted minimally invasive mitral valve repair in 1996. Dr. Loulmet, directs the Cardiac Robotics Program at NYU Langone.

-Didier F. Loulmet, MD, associate professor, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery

About NYU Langone Medical Center
Located in the heart of New York City, NYU Langone Medical Center is a premier center for health care, biomedical research, and medical education.  For over 167 years, NYU physicians and researchers have contributed to the practice and science of medicine.  Today the Medical Center consists of NYU School of Medicine; Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, the first and largest facility of its kind; NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, a leader in musculoskeletal care; and such nationally recognized programs as the NYU Cancer Institute, the NYU Child Study Center, and the NYU Cardiac and Vascular Institute.