Duke Health Blog
Stories and news about treatment advances that improve your health and quality of life

Heart Care

Learn about the Innovative approaches that Duke cardiologists and cardiac surgeons use to care for people with heart disease.

Showing 1 - 12 of 65 results
Treatments Reduce Stroke Risk in People with Atrial Fibrillation
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
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
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
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
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
What You Need to Know About High Blood Pressure

Crystal Tyson, MD, a Duke nephrologist, answers common questions regarding your blood pressure.

Women's Heart Health at Every Age
Women's Heart Health at Every Age

Considering that heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S., women’s heart health is important at every age. But each life stage comes w ...

Less Invasive Technique Shortens Recovery for Pulmonary Valve Replacement Surgery
Less Invasive Technique Shortens Recovery for Pulmonary Valve Replacement Surgery

An innovative surgical technique is changing the game for kids and adults with a congenital heart defect that often requires several major surgeries. Compared ...

Can’t Take Statins? There’s Another Choice for Lowering Cholesterol
Can’t Take Statins? There’s Another Choice for Lowering Cholesterol

If you need to lower your cholesterol but cannot take a statin because of muscle aches or other side effects, you may want to try an alternative. New research ...

If You’re an Adult with Congenital Heart Disease, Specialized Follow-Up Care Can Keep You Healthy
If You’re an Adult with Congenital Heart Disease, Specialized Follow-Up Care Can Keep You Healthy

More adults are living with congenital heart disease than ever before thanks to surgical and treatment advances in children. However, because most treatments c ...

Ask These Questions Before Mitral Valve Surgery
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 ...

Duke Clinic Provides Development, Feeding Support to Children with Complex Heart Defects
Duke Clinic Provides Development, Feeding Support to Children with Complex Heart Defects

After undergoing heart surgery, four-month-old Izabel Westmoreland-Liao struggled to eat, even with a supplemental feeding tube. Nothing her parents tried work ...