Today's stents are better than ever and continue to be refined.

During an angioplasty, a procedure to open heart arteries clogged with cholesterol-filled plaque, doctors routinely deploy tiny wire-mesh tubes called stents to prop open the newly opened vessels. After two decades of use, stents have undergone several improvements, making them safer and more effective.

Miniature electronic devices called implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) detect and terminate rapid, irregular beats in the heart's lower chambers (ventricles)—a problem known as ventricular fibrillation. While these little machines are a lifesaver for people prone to potentially deadly heartbeat disturbances, the shocks they deliver can be highly uncomfortable and even damaging.

A report in the July 22, 2014, Circulation showed that a programming strategy that delayed the time between the onset of an irregular heartbeat and the delivery of the electronic impulse could prevent unnecessary and inappropriate shocks in many cases.

The left ventricular assist device continues to find new roles in the treatment of advanced heart failure.

The left ventricular assist device (LVAD) had its moment in the media spotlight in 2010 when former Vice President Dick Cheney received the miniature implantable unit to boost his weak heart function until he became eligible for a transplant. But the expanding role of the LVAD in the treatment of people seriously ill with heart failure goes well beyond the machine's brief star turn. Over the next few years, the LVAD is poised to become the most frequently used surgical treatment for advanced heart failure, likely surpassing the number of heart transplants.

When the heart's aortic valve stiffens or becomes clogged with calcium deposits, the condition—known as aortic valve stenosis—can lead to fainting and chest pain. Some people can't tolerate open-heart surgery to replace the valve. But a less invasive procedure, called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, is another option.

In July, the FDA approved a new device called the CoreValve System for this purpose. The valve is made from pig tissue attached to a flexible, nickel-titanium frame. A catheter carrying the CoreValve is threaded through the artery at the top of the thigh up to the opening between the heart and the aorta. Once it reaches the diseased aortic valve, the device expands and anchors to the old valve. Then the replacement valve takes over, helping blood flow freely from the heart to the rest of the body. A similar device, called the Sapien Transcatheter Heart Valve, was approved in 2011.

Look for one that offers ample volume and the ability to turn it up and down as needed.

During a heart attack, blood flow to the heart tissue is cut off, often causing portions of the heart muscle to die and scar tissue to form. But what if these damaged heart cells could regrow so that normal heart function was restored? Scientists have observed this phenomenon in some types of amphibians and fish but not in mammals.

However, early research using pigs as stand-ins suggests that growing new heart cells may one day be possible in humans. As described in Science Translational Medicine, researchers used a gene involved in cell division and replication (called cyclin A2) that normally shuts off after birth. They administered the gene into pig heart muscle a week after a heart attack. Six weeks later, the damaged heart tissue had regained some of its ability to contract, and new heart cells had formed near the area of damage in the treated group but not in the controls. 

Research we're watching

Many heart transplant recipients survive 20 years

For people with end-stage heart failure, a heart transplant is considered the "gold standard" treatment. A new study suggests that living for 15 to 20 years after a heart transplant is becoming the rule rather than the exception.

Researchers tracked the outcomes of 133 men and women who received a heart transplant at University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland from 1985 to 1991. Just over half (74 people) lived at least 20 years after the surgery. Among these long-term survivors, the average age at the time of surgery was 43.6.

Stents used to open blocked arteries and restore blood flow are safe and effective in women. The newest-generation drug-coated stents seem to work best at preventing a heart attack or stroke.

Serious about exercise? Get a heart monitor.

Maximize your workout by keeping your heart rate "in the zone."

Age no barrier to pacemaker implantation

For most older people, the benefits of implanting a pacemaker outweigh the risks.

Age should not be a barrier to getting a pacemaker—even for people over age 90, a new study finds.