Pulmonary vein isolation alone frequently yields suboptimal long‑term rhythm control for patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, and manual substrate ablation produces inconsistent results across centers. This systematic review and meta‑analysis pooled data from three eligible studies enrolling 322 persistent atrial fibrillation patients, published in Cardiology Discovery. After the 3‑month post‑ablation blanking period, pooled 12‑month freedom‑from‑atrial‑fibrillation reached 87% (95% CI, 82%‑91%). One included randomized controlled trial demonstrated 89% arrhythmia‑free survival for artificial‑intelligence‑guided ablation versus 67% for standard pulmonary vein isolation alone. Authors caution that the small body of available evidence requires further validation in large‑scale multicenter trials.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a predominantly inherited heart condition affecting roughly 1 in 500 people, remains the top cause of exercise‑related sudden cardiac death among young individuals. Traditional medications mostly relieve symptoms without targeting underlying disease mechanisms. This peer‑reviewed narrative review synthesizes global clinical trial and pre‑clinical evidence published between January 2010 and June 2026. Approved cardiac myosin‑inhibitor drugs reduce the need for invasive septal‑reduction procedures in many obstructive‑HCM patients. Multiple investigational metabolic, anti‑fibrotic, and gene‑editing therapies remain in early‑stage testing. Authors note that many promising approaches still lack large‑scale long‑term human outcome data before broad real‑world clinical adoption.

Heart failure represents a highly diverse global syndrome, and classification relying only on left‑ventricular ejection fraction cannot fully explain variable treatment responses, especially among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). This peer‑reviewed narrative review synthesizes published human clinical evidence from major databases up to December 2024. Authors describe five distinct HFpEF clinical phenotypes defined by comorbid conditions: metabolic, hypertensive, cardiorenal, pulmonary vascular, and inflammatory‑autoimmune subtypes. Each phenotype carries unique pathophysiology that may support phenotype‑specific therapy. The review notes that robust head‑to‑head treatment trials for these subgroups remain limited, calling for further prospective research before widespread real‑world adoption of precision‑based heart‑failure management.

Heart failure represents a highly diverse global syndrome, and classification relying only on left‑ventricular ejection fraction cannot fully explain variable treatment responses, especially among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). This peer‑reviewed narrative review synthesizes published human clinical evidence from major databases up to December 2024. Authors describe five distinct HFpEF clinical phenotypes defined by comorbid conditions: metabolic, hypertensive, cardiorenal, pulmonary vascular, and inflammatory‑autoimmune subtypes. Each phenotype carries unique pathophysiology that may support phenotype‑specific therapy. The review notes that robust head‑to‑head treatment trials for these subgroups remain limited, calling for further prospective research before widespread real‑world adoption of precision‑based heart‑failure management.

: A common blood test already carried out during routine health checks may contain clues about a person’s long-term risk of dementia, according to research being presented at the ECNP Congress in Munich and recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

In a new study published in Nature, Saint Louis University School of Medicine researchers reveal an entirely unexpected blueprint for how one of the oldest microbes on Earth processes nitrogen to create ammonia, the building block of fertilizer. 

Summer break can bring changes in daily routines that make it harder for adolescents to maintain healthy habits. Researchers from Pennington Biomedical Research Center, FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health and LSU are exploring how technology can help keep adolescents engaged in healthy behaviors during and after a structured summer program.

A pilot study tested an eight-week summer health promotion program that combined an in-person camp with an AI-assisted mobile app, wearable activity trackers and personalized behavioral support.