USPSTF’s New Cardiologists; Wrist Nerve Stimulator for Afib; Doc Impaled by Tree

Cardiologists Ronald Karlsberg, MD, and Venkatesh Murthy, MD, PhD, are among the new appointees to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).

Inspired by the search for Nancy Guthrie, scientists find it technically feasible to remotely identify Bluetooth-enabled cardiac implantable electrical devices from a distance. (JAMA Cardiology)

The evidence as a whole favors sacubitril/valsartan (Entresto) over angiotensin II receptor blockers and calcium channel blockers for controlling blood pressure. (Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology)

The FieldForce system, designed for truly instantaneous focal pulsed field ablation, had good 12-month results in a first-in-human trial of patients with atrial fibrillation (Afib). (JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology)

Non-invasive median nerve stimulation showed promise as an adjunct to Afib ablation for improving rhythm outcomes in a sham-controlled pilot study. (Heart Rhythm)

Whole grain intake was associated with improvements in multiple cardiometabolic risk factors, according to a meta-analysis of 87 trials, though it took eating 60-100 g/day (four to six servings) to see the greatest benefits. (European Heart Journal)

A mechanistic study lent notoginseng and safflower greater credence as plausible herbal therapies for myocardial ischemia. (NPJ Science of Food)

Coronary CT angiography-derived fractional flow reserve may predict different cardiovascular events depending on whether a stenosis-specific or a distal-vessel reading is taken. (Circulation)

Intracoronary imaging-guided percutaneous coronary intervention was tied to fewer cardiovascular events compared with angiographic guidance, according to a meta-analysis. (Journal of the American College of Cardiology)

In a U.K. Biobank study, genes and lifestyle factors seemed to converge as inflammatory triggers contributing to cardiovascular risk. (European Journal of Preventive Cardiology)

The novel atrial septal defect occluder ReAces matched Amplatzer in a noninferiority trial, with better migraine outcomes to boot. (Journal of the American Heart Association)

CREST-2 analyses found that revascularization of severe asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis did nothing for cognition, whether there were baseline impairments in cerebral hemodynamic flow or not. (JAMA)

From 1990 to 2023, the global burden of pediatric stroke was increasingly driven by disability rather than mortality. (Stroke)

U.S. transplant records suggest that aggressive donor heart acceptance was not associated with worse 1-year survival, supporting broader donor utilization. (Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation)

Cardiologist Roger Kerzner, MD, survived being impaled by a 6-inch tree branch on a ski trip. (KTVQ)

A professional soccer player is suing University of Louisville Health and several doctors for allegedly failing to diagnose her cardiac arrhythmia, resulting in a cardiac arrest during a match last year. (ESPN)