Discoveries Magazine

Cedars-Sinai

heart

10 Big Ideas

What ideas are shaping tomorrow’s medicine? What are the coming innovations in treating heart disease and cancer? What is the latest thinking in genetics and regenerative medicine? From the minds of our scientists and clinicians, we bring you 10 noteworthy, thought-provoking ideas that have the potential to transform medicine. Read On

The Accidental Idea

From the chance discovery of quinine as a malaria treatment in the 17th century to Alexander Fleming’s accidental encounter with penicillium mold in 1928, some of medicine’s most important advances have occurred through serendipity or error. Call them happy accidents. Read On

From Inspiration to Device

Peter Barath, MD, was concerned that some patients who had previously undergone procedures to clear blocked coronary arteries were returning months later with a condition called restenosis—renarrowing of the arteries. Read On

My Device: LVAD

More than 5 million Americans are afflicted with congestive heart failure. Of these, 70,000 will have advanced heart failure that cannot be treated with conventional therapies. For these patients, the one-year survival rate is less than 50 percent and is Read On

The Power of Happenstance

If great ideas emerge from great conversations, shouldn’t we encourage more dialogue in medicine—a field divided into specialties and subspecialties, where a neurologist and a cardiologist may seldom cross paths, let alone collaborate? The answer is a resounding yes, and Read On

Double Indemnity

A landmark international study has identified a genetic variation that may predispose people to double the risk of sudden cardiac arrest, a heart disorder that is fatal in about 95 percent of cases. This is the first genome-wide study of Read On

Skate of Grace

A revolutionary procedure is allowing patients to receive new heart valves when surgery is not an option. Meet former professional roller skater Constance Alexander, with a new valve and renewed verve at 78.

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Cedars-Sinai ranked first nationally for adult heart transplants in 2010. The Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and Comprehensive Transplant Center performed the most adult heart transplants of any U.S. medical center in 2010,completing heart transplants on 75 patients and a heart and Read On