Active clinical trials for "Heart Diseases"

To identify genetic variation in reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) and its role in cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis.

Collect data on the use of the Angio-Seal Evolution Device in diagnostic and interventional patient populations.

Infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) requiring surgery frequently have brain injury seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This occurs in approximately 40% of these newborns, and even though these are full-term infants, the injury seen closely resembles the same form of brain injury that can be seen in premature babies. Much like premature newborns, infants with CHD also have long-term neurodevelopmental problems (in over 50%). The investigators do not know why infants with CHD get this specific form of brain injury. One risk factor is felt to be the inflammation that occurs in response to heart-lung bypass (cardiopulmonary bypass, or CPB), a necessary feature of open-heart surgery. Newborns have a stronger inflammatory reaction to CPB than older children or adults. The investigators do know from animal experiments and other human data that inflammation can be harmful to the developing brain. The investigators hypothesize that children with CHD requiring surgery as a newborn have brain injury due to toxicity from the inflammatory response. The investigators will test this by enrolling newborns undergoing heart surgery to measure markers of inflammation, measure brain injury by MRI, and then test their developmental outcome at 1 and 2 years of age. An association between inflammation and injury might impact what medicines are chosen to protect the brain in future studies, even in other populations such as preterm infants.

Cardiac stress testing with functional nuclear imaging is an invaluable technique in the diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of patients with known or suspected ischemic heart disease. Selection of the appropriate type of nuclear stress test: exercise stress Myocardial Perfusion Imaging (MPI) versus pharmacologic stress MPI is crucial for not only diagnostic accuracy and prognostic evaluation, but also for sound clinical decisions and resource utilization. The Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) is a 12-item questionnaire that utilized self-reported physical work capacity to estimate peak metabolic equivalents (METs) and has been shown to be a valid measurement of functional capacity. The investigators hypothesized that the DASI may be the screening tool that evaluates functional capacity and guides selection of the optimal stress MPI study.

Left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is a common manifestation of heart disease that is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality.It is present when the ventricular filling is impaired as a result of delayed relaxation or decreased compliance. During Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery, LV diastolic dysfunction is a frequent occurrence. Failure of the left ventricle to dilate normally causes an increase in LV filling pressure. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication after cardiac surgery affecting 20-30% of patients undergoing coronary revascularization procedures. AF is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and has been identified as a causative factor of increased length of both hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stay after CABG surgery, resulting in increased resource utilization and medical care costs.The primary aim of this study is to determine if patients with preoperative diastolic dysfunction are exposed to higher risk of AF after coronary revascularization surgery.

To determine whether or not women with a history of having a baby with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) was more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease versus women with a pregnancy not complicated by IUGR.

In this study, the investigators wish to use images obtained from standard of care cardiac MRI's performed at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and transfer the images to a different computer in order to analyze them with a new computer. The investigators are hoping to better their understanding and management of complex congenital heart disease.

Setup CT images database of congenital heart disease.

Cardiac elastography is a new technique to analyze strain and strain rates in many organ systems, including the heart. In this study, cardiac elastography derived from the analysis of raw radiofrequency data obtained from a conventional clinical echocardiograph system will be compared to processed information that comes from the same echocardiograph system. The purpose of this study is to determine if cardiac elastography can accurately determine strain and strain rates as compared to more conventional means.

To continue a registry of World War II veteran twins maintained by the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council (NAS-NRC).