New data suggest that relatively healthy women with severe depression are at increased risk of cardiac events, including sudden cardiac death and fatal coronary heart disease. Researchers found that much of the relationship between depressive symptoms and cardiac events was mediated by cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking.

The risk of sudden cardiac death following a heart attack has declined significantly in the past 30 years, although patients appear to be at elevated risk for sudden cardiac death for the first month after having a heart attack, after which time their risk decreases unless they develop heart failure, according to new study.

Individuals who experience both childhood adversity and traumatic events in adulthood appear more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than those exposed to only one of these types of incidents, according to a new report. In addition, the risk was further increased in individuals with a certain genetic mutation.

While debate continues over the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, a new study indicates traumatic events and PTSD symptoms may be followed in some cases by a size reduction in a part of the brain called the hippocampus.

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators can improve survival in patients with heart damage -- even those in their 70s -- according to new research.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators reduce the risk of death from sudden cardiac arrest among patients with heart failure, and they do so without significantly altering a person's quality of life, say researchers from Duke University Medical Center.

Medical researchers report that variations in the gene NOS1AP increase the risk of cardiac symptoms and sudden death in patients who have an inherited cardiac disease called congenital long-QT syndrome. The findings will help in assessing the risk of sudden death -- and assigning therapy -- in patients with this syndrome.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators do not appear to be associated with a reduced risk of death in women with advanced heart failure, according to a meta-analysis of previously published research.

At the radiation dose levels used in cardiac imaging exams, such as cardiac CT or nuclear medicine scans, the risk of potentially harmful effects from ionizing radiation are low. However, since the exact level of risk is not known, people without symptoms of heart disease are being urged to think twice about seeking, or agreeing to, these types of cardiac studies.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) -- but not exposure to traumatic events without the development of PTSD -- may be associated with subsequent attempted suicide in young adults, according to a new report.