Here are 10 recent firsts in cardiology:
- Henry Ford Hospital structural heart interventional cardiologists are the first in the U.S. to successfully implant the new transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement device for patients with symptomatic tricuspid valve disease who are at high risk with open-heart surgery.
- A 102-year-old woman in Israel is the oldest known person to receive a cardiac pacemaker.
- Researchers at Los Angeles-based Smidt Heart Institute found the shape of a patient's heart can indicate risk of disease.
- Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University researchers and NASA shot microengineered human heart tissue to space in an effort to further research on aging and the effects of long space flight.
- Cleveland Clinic researchers discovered a treatment that can reduce cholesterol and heart attacks in statin-intolerant patients.
- The American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions jointly outlined the first competency-based training requirements for interventional cardiology trainees.
- University of California San Francisco made history with what it believes is the first all-woman heart transplant team.
- Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's Heart Center successfully inserted a pacemaker into a premature baby — one of only a few implant procedures worldwide.
- Experts created the first international guidelines for cardiovascular care in pediatric patients undergoing treatment for cancer.
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center opened a first-of-its-kind mental health center for families affected by congenital heart disease.