Bana Jobe

Not only is cardiovascular disease a top cause of death among women (and men), but our aging population is on track to yield more menopausal and postmenopausal patients in the future. With the risks inherent in a person's menopausal years, cardiologists should be on alert for these patients' future care needs.

Demand for and interest in wearables, remote monitoring, connected devices, and decentralized trials has evolved cardiovascular care such that a large percentage of the continuum is now digitized. But some barriers hold us back. Here's what cardiologists shoul know.

More pregnant patients die of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than any other pregnancy-related cause of mortality—and those rates are going up. Between 1987 and 2015, for example, incidences of CVD mortality have more than doubled from 7.2 to 17.2 per 100,000 live births. Marginalized groups, including people of color, encounter maternal health disparities that increase their risk for these concerns.

As evidence of COVID-19's involvement in cardiac complications continues to emerge, the literature has introduced the need for ongoing surveillance of patients who have recovered from known and suspected infections — even when those infections were mild and occurred months ago.

Matching up with the right CDMO can be a critical factor in moving a therapy to clinic quickly and with ease. But sussing out the best partner for your product’s specific challenges can be tricky. A partner with an integrated development and manufacturing infrastructure that can execute lab work remotely is key.

Technology has revolutionized modern-day clinical trial studies, including adjudication. Sponsors now have more options to quickly, securely, and cost-effectively adjudicate their endpoints, with the help of world-class experts. This 2022 Industry Report details the latest survey findings.

Drug companies now have an opportunity to capitalize on the virtual momentum, but they’ll need to navigate the changing paradigm carefully in order to be successful.

Is elevated troponin still a reliable biomarker for acute cardiac injury—particularly in patients not infected with SARS-CoV-2? Evidence is divided: Laboratory values can support diagnostic decision-making, but not unilaterally as a single gold standard. Other tools, including ECG readings in conjunction with a full clinical workup, often provide more context.

The pandemic has upended the care continuum in many ways, but it has also introduced new opportunities for resilience in healthcare systems, including in cardiology. Many healthcare systems have strengthened in response to the diversity of problems facing the broader care ecosystem. These problems have run the gamut, from operational concerns (such as burnout, labor shortages, supply constraints, and financial strains) to clinical ones, such as delayed care due to backlogs.

When SARS-CoV-2 first emerged, it created many questions about how the virus would impact the cardiac care continuum. Now, after many months and millions of infections worldwide, troves of patient data have revealed new answers about the acute cardiac complications of COVID-19.

Done right, digital health can make an organization more efficient, more profitable, and better able to serve and delight patients—while gaining a significant competitive edge in a crowded market. But to give digital initiatives more traction in an industry as regulated and complex as healthcare, it requires an all-hands-on-deck, enterprise-wide effort.

Salpingectomy may offer better ovarian cancer protections than tubal ligation, but it may not be right for every patient. Here's what providers should know.

FDA approval of ECG-capable wearables as well as innovations in remote cardiac care have evolved the industry's understanding of what's possible in at-home monitoring, and the ongoing pursuit of optimized algorithms is helping to improve those technologies' prior shortcomings. Additionally, more data from COVID-19 has revealed new insights and considerations for patients with cardiovascular disease.

The known prevalence of LVH in Black patients indicates that LVH plus subclinical cardiac injury, as measured by troponin, exacerbates risks. Accordingly, cardiologists should be diligent about monitoring for and detecting LVH on ECG—particularly, malignant (biomarker-abnormal) LVH. Because the condition is largely asymptomatic, ECG is a critical high-specificity tool that should be part of the diagnostic workup.

To find out how companies are accelerating their digital transformation efforts, we surveyed 108 health insurance and provider executives. This report details those findings and discusses the principles of digital excellence in a post-pandemic era.