Duke Health Blog
Heart Care
Learn about the Innovative approaches that Duke cardiologists and cardiac surgeons use to care for people with heart disease.
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 ...
Domino Heart Transplant Offers New Opportunities for Children with Congenital Heart Disease
When three-month-old Asher Hobby needed a heart transplant, his parents eagerly agreed to help to save another life at the same time. In June 2023 at Duke Heal ...
What You Need to Know About High Blood Pressure
Crystal Tyson, MD, a Duke nephrologist, answers common questions regarding your blood pressure.
Ask These Questions Before Mitral Valve Surgery
Mitral valve regurgitation can do serious damage to your heart. A leaky mitral valve causes blood to flow back into your heart, which makes it harder for oxyge ...
How to Evaluate a Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery Program
Congenital heart defects are present at birth. These structural defects may require surgery to fix. So how do you find the best care? Here’s what you need to k ...
Leg Pain and Cramps: When to Worry
Leg cramps are uncomfortable, but most of us discount them. After all, it’s hard to get worked up about a condition commonly known as a “charley horse,” for wh ...
Advances at Duke Fast-Track Second Heart Transplant for Charlotte Man
Thanks to congenital heart disease, Dan Kummer had a heart transplant before he could even legally rent a car. His troubles returned 20 years later when his tr ...
Duke Surgeons First in U.S. to Place New-Generation Artificial Heart
For the first time in the U.S., heart surgeons at Duke University Hospital successfully implanted a new-generation artificial heart as part of a clinical trial ...
Duke Heart Surgeons Perform First Pediatric Heart Transplant of its Kind in the U.S.
Duke surgeons successfully performed the first "donation after circulatory death” (DCD) heart transplant in a pediatric patient in the U.S. The transplant team ...