Shoehorned into a small room, the first positron emission tomography (PET) scanner at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute made possible a dedicated PET imaging service for heart patients one day a week. That was in 1995, and cardiologist Rob Beanlands, MD, physicist Rob deKemp, PhD, and nuclear...
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With roughly half a million Canadians now living with heart failure, the condition is an increasingly common one that can seriously impact an individual’s quality of life. Even when appropriately treated, hospital admission and readmission rates are stubbornly high. George Wells, Director of the...
Arrhythmias — disturbances of the heart’s normal rhythm—affect more than 1.5 million Canadians and can impact a person’s health and well-being in a variety of ways. Sudden cardiac death caused by an arrhythmia kills 40,000 people every year. An estimated 350,000 Canadians are living with atrial...
More than half a million Canadians are living with heart failure and another 50,000 join their ranks each year. The standard treatment for heart failure has not changed for quite some time. Now, a new drug—so new that it’s identified only as LCZ696—is generating interest among cardiologists and...
Not all treatments work in all patients, but often it’s not possible to know ahead of time who will benefit. The Ottawa Heart Institute recently became the first centre in Canada to use a new radioactive tracer clinically to better define the prognosis of a patient in heart failure. The tracer...
The University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) is leading Canada's first dedicated walking rehabilitation program for people with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a painful and debilitating “hardening” of the arteries outside of the heart, most commonly in the legs. The first-of-its-kind...
In less than a decade, the search for common genetic variations that alter people’s risk of disease has changed the way we think about genetic risk. In the world of cardiovascular medicine, 36 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)—the tiny genetic changes that help to differentiate one individual’s...
A recent conference in Washington, D.C., on cardiovascular research technologies hailed the success of life-saving strategies for emergency heart attack patients who suffer ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The Beat spoke about recent developments in these strategies with Dr. Michel Le May...
All exercise is good, and some is better than none, but the health benefits of Nordic walking are superior, study finds. Cardiovascular rehab programs and exercise in general is known to improve the health of people with heart disease. However, less is known about whether such improvements are...
Nurses make up the largest professional group within the healthcare workforce and their work is perceived as being physically and mentally demanding. According to a National Survey of the Work and Health of Nurses in Canada conducted in 2005, an alarming proportion of Canadian nurses then reported...
Occupational therapy is proving to be one of the most important ways to avoid readmission to hospital. This was the finding of a study recently published in the journal Medical Care Research and Review which found readmission rates for heart patients were lower in hospitals that invested more in...
Cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading cause of death, but there are many behaviours you can change to decrease your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Online cardiovascular calculators, powered by big data and artificial intelligence (AI), are making it easier than ever before to help...
Atrial fibrillation is a complex condition in that its causes vary from person to person, impacting its underlying mechanisms, what triggers episodes and which treatments are effective in each individual. In addition, afib can be difficult to diagnose because it is often episodic nature and in some...
Much of modern health care is made possible by medical devices—the countless tools, equipment and instruments used in health care delivery and patient care. Pocket glucose monitors that check blood sugar levels on the go. Specialized retractors that support new surgical techniques. Cardiac stents...
A pocket hematoma is a pooling of blood around a device such as a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) following the implant procedure. Research led by the Ottawa Heart Institute has found that patients who experience a clinically significant pocket hematoma (CSH) are...
Being a patient at the Heart Institute can be unsettling—but it’s also safe. There is trained staff that will help with whatever patients need. Medication is brought when it’s time to take it and food meets the requirements for a heart-healthy diet. When it’s time to leave, though, it’s another...
Being a patient can be confusing and overwhelming. There can be a lot of new information to absorb at a time when patients are not feeling their best. Decisions are often necessary and the implications of those choices may not be clear. Recovery can involve following detailed instructions or making...
After Hope Sarfi had bypass surgery last year, she had good support from family and friends. They helped her out where they could, some learned about her condition and they listened to her concerns—everything you could want from those closest to you. But she felt something was missing. That...
Heart failure is an insidious disease. Its symptoms can be vague—including shortness of breath, swelling of the ankles and fatigue. Too often, patients and family doctors miss the warning signs entirely, explained Peter Liu, MD, Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President of Research at the...
Hospitalization for pneumonia is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in middle-aged and older adults with no history of heart disease, according to a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Presenting his findings at the University of...