Duke Health Blog
Heart Care
Learn about the Innovative approaches that Duke cardiologists and cardiac surgeons use to care for people with heart disease.
Do I Need a Heart Failure Specialist?
A heart failure specialist is just what you might think -- a doctor who specializes in treating heart failure. But when is the right time to seek out this type ...
Duke Offering Pulsed Field Ablation to Treat Atrial Fibrillation
For decades, cardiac ablation has been used to treat atrial fibrillation (Afib), one of the most common types of arrhythmia. While traditional cardiac ablation ...
On the Move Again After Chronic Total Occlusion
Mitchell Doub, 64, could barely walk across his living room without experiencing debilitating chest pain thanks to an advanced form of coronary artery disease ...
Preventing Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Young Athletes
Sudden cardiac arrest -- when the heart stops beating abruptly -- is especially shocking in young people. That’s why it’s important to heed warning signs and u ...
Alternatives to Heart Transplant? You Have Options
Heart transplantation can be a life-saving treatment for severe heart failure, but it’s a serious operation that requires a lifelong commitment. As a result, a ...
New Options Make It Possible for More People to Receive Heart Transplants
Heart transplantation is the most effective treatment for end-stage heart failure; however, the nationwide shortage of donor hearts may mean a long wait on the ...
Chest Pain in Children and Adolescents
Chest pain is a common complaint in children and adolescents. Chest pain is often perceived as “heart pain” both to children and their parents, and it can caus ...
Heart Failure Access Clinic Offers Care Fast
When heart failure symptoms strike, you can turn to Duke’s heart failure clinic for the intensive therapy you need right away. The clinic helps you avoid preve ...
Treatments Reduce Stroke Risk in People with Atrial Fibrillation
If you are one of the millions of people in the U.S. with atrial fibrillation (or AFib), your risk for stroke is much higher than people without the heart rhyt ...
Duke Pediatric Heart Surgeons Perform World’s First Partial Heart Transplant
Owen Monroe was only 17 days old when he became the world’s first partial heart transplant recipient. The revolutionary surgery was performed in April 2022 by ...
Sports Performance Coach Takes the Lead Against Sarcoidosis Thanks to Expert Care at Duke
In Fall 2019, William Stephens learned he had cardiac sarcoidosis, a rare autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the heart. A team of Duke doctors help ...
New Dad Gets Heart and Liver Transplants at Duke
Despite being young and active, Stefan Rucker felt sluggish and weak in his early forties. In October 2020, the 16-year veteran police detective was diagnosed ...