For the first time in the United States, doctors with the American Heart Association (AHA) have outlined best practices for cardiologists to evaluate and manage patients who have heart attacks with no significant signs of coronary artery disease — a condition known as myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA). The new document, published in the March 27 issue of Circulation,1 aims to help physicians better recognize patients with this condition, to avoid common misdiagnoses and streamline care. It is especially important for women, who represent a disproportionate number of MINOCA cases.

Despite national guidelines indicating statins can lower risk of heart attack and stroke, many patients who could benefit do not take them. More than half of eligible patients say they were never offered the cholesterol-lowering drugs; the experience of side effects or fear of side effects were reasons for stopping or refusing statins, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association.

Smart speakers customarily used in your living room can act as an aid to physicians in hospital operating rooms, according to new research presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s (SIR) 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting, March 23-28 in Austin, Texas. Smart speakers, such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home, offer a conversational voice interface that allows interventional radiology (IR) physicians to ask questions and retrieve information needed for their patient treatments without breaking sterile scrub.

A program designed to help heart attack patients with the transition from hospital to outpatient care can reduce readmissions and deaths and increase the number of patients keeping follow-up appointments, a new study suggests. Findings from the Sanger Heart and Vascular Heart Care Navigation Team study were presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Cardiovascular Summit, Feb. 14-16 in Orlando, Fla. The conference brings together top experts to discuss and review innovative, relevant cardiovascular management and leadership strategies.

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is reportedly recovering after undergoing a transcatheter aortic valve valve replacement (TAVR) procedure at a New York hospital.