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As global temperatures continue to rise, extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense. Extreme heat affects cardiovascular health as it is associated with a greater risk of adverse cardiovascular events, especially for adults with preexisting cardiovascular diseases. Nonetheless, the pathophysiology underlying the association between extreme heat and cardiovascular risk remains understudied. Furthermore, specific recommendations to mitigate the effects of extreme heat on cardiovascular health remain limited to guide clinical practice within the context of a warming climate. The overall objective of this review article is to raise awareness that extreme heat poses a risk for cardiovascular health. Specifically, the review discusses why cardiovascular healthcare professionals should care about extreme heat, how extreme heat affects cardiovascular health, and recommendations to minimise the cardiovascular consequences of extreme heat. Future research directions are also provided to further our understating of the cardiovascular health consequences of extreme heat. A better awareness and understanding of the cardiovascular consequences of extreme heat will help cardiovascular health professionals assess the risk and optimise the care of their patients exposed to an increasingly warm climate.

Obesity is associated with an accelerated cognitive decline. Aerobic fitness has a protective effect on cognition in older adults, but no study has investigated this effect in obese individuals. The present study aimed to 1) compare cognitive function in lower-fit (LoFit) and higher-fit (HiFit) obese individuals compared with nonobese individuals, and 2) examine the association between exercise variables (including hemodynamic variables) and cognitive function in obese individuals.

In this review, we discuss the most recent forms of exercise training available to patients with cardiac disease and their comparison or their combination (or both) during short- and long-term (phase II and III) cardiac rehabilitation programs. Exercise training modalities to be discussed include inspiratory muscle training (IMT), resistance training (RT), continuous aerobic exercise training (CAET), and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Particular emphasis is placed on HIIT compared or combined (or both) with other forms such as CAET or RT. For example, IMT combined with CAET was shown to be superior to CAET alone for improving functional capacity, ventilatory function, and quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure. Similarly, RT combined with CAET was shown to optimize benefits with respect to functional capacity, muscle function, and quality of life. Furthermore, in recent years, HIIT has emerged as an alternative or complementary (or both) exercise modality to CAET, providing equivalent if not superior benefits to conventional continuous aerobic training with respect to aerobic fitness, cardiovascular function, quality of life, efficiency, safety, tolerance, and exercise adherence in both short- and long-term training studies. Finally, short-interval HIIT was shown to be useful in the initiation and improvement phases of cardiac rehabilitation, whereas moderate- or longer-interval (or both) HIIT protocols appear to be more appropriate for the improvement and maintenance phases because of their high physiological stimulus. We now propose progressive models of exercise training (phases II-III) for patients with cardiac disease, including a more appropriate application of HIIT based on the scientific literature in the context of a multimodal cardiac rehabilitation program.

The aims of this work were (1) to compare cerebral oxygenation-perfusion (COP), central hemodynamics, and peak oxygen uptake (V˙o2peak) in heart transplant recipients (HTRs) vs age-matched healthy controls (AMHCs) during exercise and recovery and (2) to study the relationships between COP, central hemodynamics, and V˙o2peak in HTRs and AMHCs.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and pre-diabetes are mostly lifestyle diseases associated with high rates of morbidity, mortality, and health care expenditures. Different intensive lifestyle interventions have shown to be useful for effective control and even reverse these conditions. However, these strategies are rarely implemented as first-line choices. Objectives The Montréal Heart Institute Cardiovascular Prevention Center (EPIC) started a comprehensive lifestyle clinic for patients with T2D in 2019. We sought to study the impacts of a 12-month non-pharmacological intervention on body weight, insulin sensitivity and remission of T2D.

Circulating levels of angiopoietin-like 2 (ANGPTL2), a proinflammatory and proatherogenic protein, are elevated in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). We hypothesized that high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE), known to be beneficial in patients with CAD, would reduce circulating ANGPTL2 levels.

A young woman experienced complete heart block, leading to Torsades de pointes. Cardiac 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose/positron emission tomography was used to confirm the resolution of her acute myocarditis and was critical to the decision-making process that prevented unnecessary pacemaker insertion.

In this article, new areas of cardiovascular (CV) prevention and rehabilitation research are discussed: high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and new concepts in nutrition. HIIT consists of brief periods of high-intensity exercise interspersed by periods of low-intensity exercise or rest. The optimal mode according our work (15-second exercise intervals at peak power with passive recovery intervals of the same duration) is associated with longer total exercise time, similar time spent near peak oxygen uptake (VO2 peak) VO2peak, and lesser perceived exertion relative to other protocols that use longer intervals and active recovery periods. Evidence also suggests that compared with moderate-intensity continuous exercise training, HIIT has superior effects on cardiorespiratory function and on the attenuation of multiple cardiac and peripheral abnormalities. With respect to nutrition, a growing body of evidence suggests that the gut microbiota is influenced by lifestyle choices and might play a pivotal role in modulating CV disease development. For example, recent evidence linking processed (but not unprocessed) meats to increased CV risk pointed to the gut microbial metabolite trimethylamine N-oxide as a potential culprit. In addition, altered gut microbiota could also mediate the proinflammatory and cardiometabolic abnormalities associated with excess added free sugar consumption, and in particular high-fructose corn syrup. Substantially more research is required, however, to fully understand how and which alterations in gut flora can prevent or lead to CV disease and other chronic illnesses. We conclude with thoughts about the appropriate role for HIIT in CV training and future research in the role of gut flora-directed interventions in CV prevention.

This overview provides a guideline for the management of stable ischemic heart disease. It represents the work of a primary and secondary panel of participants from across Canada who achieved consensus on behalf of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. The suggestions and recommendations are intended to be of relevance to primary care and specialist physicians with an emphasis on rational deployment of diagnostic tests, expedited implementation of long- and short-term medical therapy, timely consideration of revascularization, and practical follow-up measures.

The effects of an intensive lifestyle intervention including Mediterranean diet nutritional counselling and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on body composition, cardiometabolic, and exercise parameters were studied in metabolically unhealthy obese (NMHO) and metabolically healthy but obese (MHO) subjects.

High-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) is gaining in popularity in fitness centres, even among coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. However, whether HIIE can have deleterious acute effects on the vasculature in CHD has not been studied. We hypothesized that when compared with moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE), a single bout of HIIE could lead to vascular damage and increasing numbers of circulating endothelial and platelet microparticles (EMPs, PMPs) in stable, physically fit CHD patients.

The purpose of this study was to compare cardiopulmonary responses, exercise adherence, tolerance, and safety of optimized high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) compared with moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFREF).

The long-term prognostic value of heart rate recovery (HRR) has been incompletely documented in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). We sought to confirm the prognostic value of HRR in a large cohort with stable CAD.

Despite recommendations in clinical practice guidelines, evidence suggests cardiac rehabilitation (CR) referral and use following indicated cardiac events is low. Referral strategies such as systematic referral have been advocated to improve CR use. The objective of this policy position is to synthesize evidence and make recommendations on strategies to increase patient enrollment in CR. A systematic review of 6 databases from inception to January 2009 was conducted. Only primary, published, English-language studies were included. A meta-analysis was undertaken to synthesize the enrollment rates by referral strategy. In all, 14 studies met inclusion criteria. Referral strategies were categorized as systematicon the basis of use of systematic discharge order sets, as liaisonon the basis of discussions with allied health care providers, or as otheron the basis of patient letters. Overall, there were 7 positive studies, 5 without comparison groups, and 2 studies that reported null findings. The combined effect sizes of the meta-analysis were as follows: 73% (95% CI, 39%-92%) for the patient letters (“other”), 66% (95% CI, 54%-77%) for the combined systematic and liaison strategy, 45% (95% CI, 33%-57%) for the systematic strategy alone, and 44% (95% CI, 35%-53%) for the liaison strategy alone. In conclusion, the results suggest that innovative referral strategies increase CR use. Although patient letters look promising, evidence for this strategy is sparse and inconsistent at present. Therefore we suggest that inpatient units adopt systematic referral strategies, including a discussion at the bedside, for eligible patient groups in order to increase CR enrollment and participation. This approach should be considered best practice for further investigation.

Cold temperature is known to commonly precipitate angina pectoris in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD). It was previously shown that the ischemic threshold was lower during exercise testing at –8°C than at +20°C in patients with a history of cold-induced angina, whereas it was unchanged in patients without coldinduced angina. Few data exist on the impact of more severe cold exposure on myocardial ischemia.

Current guidelines for exercise training in coronary patients state that in the presence of exercise-induced ischemia, the heart rate during exercise should be at least 10 beats/min below the heart rate associated with an ST segment depression of 1mm or greater. For patients with a relatively low ischemic threshold, this recommendation does not allow for a sufficient training stimulus.

Positron emission tomography (PET) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is a well-validated non-invasive imaging technique for the assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD). Amongst its many advantage, it permits quantitative, non-invasive assessment of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR). While the diagnostic and prognostic value of MFR has been extensively validated in the general CAD population, only limited data is available when it comes to its prognostic value in patients with prior coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Our study aim was to evaluate if diminished MFR on 13N-Ammonia PET MPI is associated with increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) amongst patients with prior CABG.

Finnish sauna bathing habits are associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular mortality. The physiologic adaptations mediating this association remain to be fully elucidated. This study tested the hypothesis that Finnish sauna bathing acutely improves peripheral flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in middle-aged and older adults with stable coronary artery disease (CAD).

Skeletal muscle substrate oxidation was compared during moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) and high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFREF). Eighteen patients (aged 60 ± 9 years; LVEF, 26 ± 7%) randomly performed MICE (22 minutes at 60% of peak power) and HIIE (30 seconds at 100% of peak power interspersed by 30 seconds' rest for 16 minutes). Carbohydrate and lipid oxidation calculated using the Frayn equation were 4.8- and 1.42-fold higher during MICE and 5- and 1.22-fold higher during HIIE (P< 0.0001). HIIE and MICE can similarly and favourably increase carbohydrate and lipid oxidation in patients with HFREF.

We present a case of digoxin toxicity in the context of dehydration, renal dysfunction and concomitant use of the macrolide antibiotic, clarithromycin, which is known to inhibit P-glycoprotein–mediated efflux mechanisms of digoxin. A focused review of the literature is presented. Health care providers need to be vigilant of this mechanism of drug–drug interaction, which is also relevant to other commonly used cardiovascular drugs.