Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have created Cardiac Rejection Assessment Neural Estimator (CRANE), a form of artificial intelligence for automated screening of endomyocardial biopsy results. They describe its performance and its potential to serve as an assistive diagnostic tool.

Researchers conducted the first rigorous, large-scale trial of long-term cocoa flavanol supplementation to prevent CVD and cancer. They found that cocoa extract supplementation led to a small but nonsignificant reduction in total cardiovascular events among older adults but significantly reduced CVD death by 27%.

Three cardiologists from the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Brigham’s Heart & Vascular Center—Brian A. Bergmark, MD, Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, and Paul M. Ridker, MD, MPH—presented a total of four late-breaking clinical trials at the American College of Cardiology’s 71st Annual Scientific Session in April.

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital recently published a nationwide U.S. study of patients who received more than 90 days of oral anticoagulation after hospitalization for VTE. They found dispensing of apixaban, versus warfarin, was associated with a modestly lower hospitalization rate for recurrent VTE.

The Division of Cardiac Surgery earned a distinguished three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting procedures. George Tolis, MD, section chief of Coronary Surgery and General Cardiac Surgery, explains the rating and its meaning.

A post hoc analysis of the ATHENA trial has determined that dronedarone has benefits in patients whose atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter is complicated by heart failure with preserved ejection fraction or heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction.

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have published a proof-of-principle study showing vascular smooth muscle cells themselves can be transformed into endothelial cells.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers investigated the prognostic value of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) in asymptomatic individuals not suspected of having heart disease. High-grade PVCs that occurred during recovery from stress testing were associated with long-term cardiovascular mortality.