For children with rare heart conditions that increase their risk of blood clots, taking a daily anti-clotting pill may be an alternative to frequent injections, blood tests and dietary adjustments required with the current anti-clotting treatments approved for this age group. The daily pill, edoxaban, is FDA-approved for use in adults with irregular heartbeats and other conditions that increase the risk of developing blood clots. In a new multi-center, international study, edoxaban was found to be just as safe as standard treatments for children, with a similar number of side effects and with only rare instances of increased bleeding.

A comparison of cardiovascular deaths associated with environmental toxins has shown a significantly higher risk associated with lead exposure and lower risk for particulate matter in the U.S. than in the United Kingdom. Despite these differences, the U.S. and the U.K. have shown decreasing trends in cardiovascular deaths concerning exposure to smoking, secondhand smoke, lead and particulate matter.

Two studies found that how easy it is to walk around a neighborhood is associated with lower cardiovascular disease and risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes. Investing in more walkable neighborhoods is among the solutions to equitably improving cardiovascular health in U.S. neighborhoods, researchers said.

Two new analyses from research comparing cardiovascular function in people who vape, people who smoke and people who did not use any nicotine found significant negative health impacts among participants after vaping and smoking combustible cigarettes. In one report, people who used e-cigarettes and people who smoked combustible cigarettes had greater increases in blood pressure, heart rate and blood vessel constriction, immediately after vaping or smoking, compared to people who did not use any nicotine. In a second report from the same researchers, people who used e-cigarettes consistently performed worse on treadmill exercise measurements that predict heart disease risk, compared to people who did not use any nicotine. Researchers noted the findings are particularly concerning because the negative impact on cardiovascular function among the people who vaped was similar to the impact on the people who used combustible cigarettes, even though those who used e-cigarettes were younger (average age of 27.4 years vs. 42 years, respectively) and had vaped for nearly two decades less than the other group smoked (average 4.1 years vaping vs. 23 years smoking).

Electrocardiogram (ECG) measures taken after the first pig-to-human heart transplant found significantly different electrical conduction characteristics compared to those seen in native pig hearts (pig heart transplanted in a pig). Common ECG measures are typically shorter in a pig than in a human, yet, in the Jan. 2022 pig-to-human heart transplant, these ECG measures were unexpectedly prolonged.

Social vulnerabilities, such as living in poverty, living in a single-parent household, not having a car or being described as a minority, were associated with cardiometabolic risk during pregnancy. Social vulnerability was associated with increased cardiometabolic risk factors, such as obesity, pre-pregnancy Type 2 diabetes or pre-pregnancy high blood pressure, among pregnant women.