Heart Podcast

Andrew Grace (consultant cardiologist, Cambridge) talks to Bill Stevenson (electrophysiologist from the Brigham Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School) about radiofrequency ablation in the context of ventricular fibrillation storms. Webcasts from all the sessions at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference 2012 http://bit.ly/ZMGmUE

Christopher Burrell (consultant cardiologist at the Southwest Cardiothoracic Centre, Plymouth) talks to Nick West (clinical lead for coronary intervention at Papworth Hospital and deputy chair of the BCS Working Group on Acute Cardiac Care) about the future of acute cardiac care in the UK. See also: BCS Report on Coronary Care Units (Acute Cardiac Care) http://bit.ly/Zme8FL Webcasts from all the sessions at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference 2012 http://bit.ly/ZMGmUE

Alistair Lindsay hosts a round table from the BCS conference in Manchester, on the topic of atherosclerotic plaque imaging; past, present, and future. He is joined by: Matthias Nahrendorf, Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University Farouc Jaffer, Center for Molecular Imaging Research, Harvard University James Rudd, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Cambridge Robin Choudhury, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford See also: Webcasts from all the sessions at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference 2012 http://bit.ly/ZMGmUE Majmudar MD, Nahrendorf M Cardiovascular Molecular Imaging: The Road Ahead. J Nucl Med. 2012;53(5):673-676 - PMID: 22492729 Leuschner F, Nahrendorf M, Molecular imaging of coronary atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction: considerations for the bench and perspectives for the clinic. Circ Res. 2011;108(5):593-606 - PMID: 21372291

Sport was the theme of 2012’s British Cardiovascular Society Conference, and Sanjay Sharma (professor at the CRY Inherited Cardiac Diseases and Sports Cardiology Unit, St Georges Hospital) spoke about sudden cardiac death in athletes. Christopher Burrell (consultant cardiologist at the Southwest Cardiothoracic Centre, Plymouth) caught him after the session to ask about the conditions which cause SCD, what to look out for on an athlete’s electrocardiogram or echocardiogram, and whether or not we should be screening. See also: Webcasts from all the sessions at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference 2012 http://bit.ly/ZMGmUE

Jim Hall (British Cardiovascular Society vice president for training) talks to Tim Stephens (lead nurse for patient safety, Barts and the London) and Chris Sadler (consultant anaesthetist, director of the Medical Simulation Centre, Barts and the London) about how to make the Cath Lab safer through simulation, and the technical and non-technical aspects this involves. See also: Webcasts from all the sessions at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference 2012 http://bit.ly/ZMGmUE

Following on from their sessions at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference, Alexander Lyon (senior lecturer in cardiology, Imperial College, London) talks to Christopher Breuer (director of tissue engineering, Yale University) and Alexander Seifalian (professor in the Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London) about how far we are from taking tissue engineering from the lab to the clinic. Professor Seifalian discusses his work using nanotechnology to build heart valves, and Professor Breuer his on developing artificial blood vessels. See also: Webcasts from all the sessions at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference 2012 http://bit.ly/ZMGmUE Rahmani B, Tzamtzis S, Ghanbari H, Burriesci G, Seifalian AM. Manufacturing and hydrodynamic assessment of a novel aortic valve made of a new nanocomposite polymer. J Biomech. 2012 Apr 30;45(7):1205-11. Ghanbari H, Viatge H, Kidane AG, Burriesci G, Tavakoli M, Seifalian AM. Polymeric heart valves: new materials, emerging hopes. Trends Biotechnol. 2009 Jun;27(6):359-67.

Where are we now with changing cholesterol levels to reduce cardiovascular disease risk? Keith Fox (British Cardiovascular Society president) asks Rory Collins (professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and co-director of the Clinical Trial Service, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford). Professor Collins talks about the evidence behind altering high- and low-density lipoproteins, why the issue of myopathy has been overstated, and our best treatment options now and for the future. See also: Webcasts from all the sessions at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference 2012 http://bit.ly/ZMGmUE

Guy Lloyd (consultant cardiologist in Eastbourne) talks to Marc Dweck (senior specialist registrar in cardiology, undertaking a PhD in aortic valve disease) about calcification in aortic stenosis. They discuss the importance of calcification in aortic valve disease, uses of different types of imaging, and possibilities for future therapies. See also: Dweck MR, Jones C, Joshi N, Fletcher AM, Richardson H, White A, Marsden M, Pessotto R, Clark JC, Wallace WA, Salter DM, McKillop G, van Beek EJR, Boon NA, Rudd JHF, Newby DE. Assessment of valvular calcification and inflammation by positron emission tomography in patients with aortic stenosis. Circulation. 2012;125(1):76-86. http://1.usa.gov/XTWCqc Scanning the heart - A British Heart Foundation film on Dr Dweck and colleague’s work with PET-CT scanning http://bit.ly/17g9Rob Webcasts from all the sessions at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference 2012 http://bit.ly/ZMGmUE

Meeting up at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference, Philip MacCarthy (a cardiology consultant in London) talks to Alec Vahanian (professor of cardiology, Hôpital Bichat, Paris) about mitral regurgitation, including the importance of 3D echocardiography and how to categorise the disorder. They also discuss who needs intervention and what this should be, and the emerging percutaneous options. See also: Webcasts from all the sessions at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference 2012http://bit.ly/ZMGmUE

In this podcast, Alistair Lindsay talks to Jennifer Logue about the link between obesity and heart disease. Increasing weight is associated with a higher prevalence of known risk factors for coronary artery disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol. And it has been assumed that these have been responsible for the increased risk of heart disease seen in obesity, say the authors. But now research published in Heart suggests that obesity is a killer in its own right, irrespective of other biological or social risk factors traditionally associated with coronary heart disease. Read the article online: http://heart.bmj.com/content/early/2011/01/24/hrt.2010.211201