Situational Syncope Across Diverse Triggers

While transient loss of consciousness is a frequent and alarming clinical presentation, situational syncope—a subtype of neurally mediated reflex syncope—frequently slips under the diagnostic radar. This illuminating case series follows six adults whose fainting or near-fainting spells were triggered by everyday activities ranging from the common, like coughing and micturition, to the highly unusual, including … Read more

Effect of Rate-Controlling Medication on Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography

For years, professional guidelines and expert opinions have conflicted on a crucial pre-test instruction: should patients stop taking their rate-controlling medications (RCMx), like beta-blockers, 48 hours before undergoing a stress echocardiography? While conventional wisdom suggests halting these medications improves diagnostic accuracy by making it easier to reach target heart rates, hard evidence has been strikingly … Read more

Early Prediction of Heart Failure From Routine Cardiac CT

This groundbreaking study reveals how AI can predict heart failure years before symptoms appear by analyzing routine cardiac CT scans. Using advanced “radiomic phenotyping,” researchers have developed a way to detect microscopic changes in the fat surrounding the heart—essentially turning a standard medical image into a powerful early-warning system. Validated with data from over 70,000 … Read more

TCRG Receives Generous Support from MK Friends Charity

We are delighted to announce that the Translational Cardiovascular Research Group (TCRG) has been awarded a generous donation from the MK Friends charity. For over 45 years, MK Friends has been a cornerstone of the Milton Keynes University Hospital community. This latest contribution represents a significant investment in the future of local cardiovascular health. The … Read more

Recent visit to TCRG by Chair of MKUH

We are pleased to communicate that the Chair of our Hospital has visited the Research Group (TCRG) on 29 October. The Chair had a tour of Cardiology and sat down with the researchers who represented our Research team at the European Society of Cardiology Annual meeting in Madrid. The two poster presentations were discussed that … Read more

Chronotropic incompetency during stress echocardiography

Stress echocardiography (SE) has gained recognition as a non-invasive diagnostic imaging modality to assess patients with suspected chronic coronary syndrome (CCS). Since exercise SE was introduced in the 1970s, the widened spectrum of stressors such as inodilators (dobutamine) or vasodilators (adenosine, dipyridamole, and recently regadenoson) continues to be rolled out to patients who are otherwise … Read more

The Value of Cardiac CT Based Inflammatory RA

Vascular inflammation plays a critical role in the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). Measurement of coronary inflammation from coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) using the perivascular fat attenuation index (FAI) Score could provide unique prognostic information and guide the clinical management of patients. In this context, we also refer to an artificial intelligence–based risk … Read more

MKUH Newsletter discusses “Pioneering Professor Kardos”

In a recent newsletter sent to all MKUH staff, Professor Kardos work with Cranfield University was described as pioneering. Please see below for the extract: MKUH consultant cardiologist, Professor Attila Kardos, has been working with researchers at Cranfield University on the use of AI-controlled robotics to deliver echocardiograms. It is hoped that the pioneering work … Read more