Alirocumab initiation after MI associated with lower plasma atheroma volume: PACMAN-AMI
Key Points PCSK-9 inhibitors have emerged as a viable treatment option patients hypercholesterolemia despite adequate tolerance of statin therapies. The role of thin capped fibrous atheromas with a lipid rich…
Mavacamten improves LVOT gradients in patients with HCM: EXPLORER-LTE
Key Points: In the EXPLORER-LTE study, patients with severely symptomatic obstructive HCM previously enrolled in the EXPLORER-HCM study underwent ongoing therapy with mavacamten. The outcomes of interest included changes in…
Vupanorsen shown to effectively decrease non-HDL cholesterol in patients already on statins: TRANSLATE-TIMI 70
Key Points: A need for various lipid-lowering agents to combat high cholesterol exists for those already taking statin medications. Vupanorsen is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits lipoprotein lipase and has…
Reduction in Lp(a) possible with siRNA therapy: APOLLO
Key Points: In the Phase I APOLLO study, patients without known ASCVD and elevated Lp(a) ≥150nmol/L were treated with a novel siRNA therapy (SLN360) in a single ascending dose study.…
FAME 3 sub-study shows no difference in quality of life between FFR-guided PCI and CABG.
Key Points PCI has yet to be shown to be superior to CABG with respect to quality of life and angina in those with multivessel coronary artery disease. This substudy…
Effects of Diltiazem on Coronary Vasomotor Dysfunction: EDIT-CMD
Key Points: In the EDIT-CMD study, patients with coronary vasomotor dysfunction (encompassing both coronary vasospasm and microvascular dysfunction, as defined by coronary function testing) were treated with either diltiazem or…
More Improvement in Residual Angina and Quality of Life in Complete Revascularization.
Key Points The COMPLETE trial, published in 2019, demonstrated that in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction found to have multivessel disease, complete revascularization was superior to culprit-only revascularization in…
SODIUM-HF: Study Of Dietary Intervention Under 100 Mmol In Heart Failure
Key points: Sodium-HF sought to determine whether dietary sodium reduction reduces the morbidity or mortality associated with heart failure (HF) in the largest randomized trial testing dietary sodium in HF…
An Old Drug with New Tricks: Tranexamic Acid Decreases Bleeding Events in Surgery, POISE-3 Suggests
Key Points: Tranexamic acid, given to patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, was associated with fewer bleeding events at 30 days. Participants of the POISE-3, a multinational, double-blinded randomized control study, were…
VALOR-HCM: Treatment with mavacamten decreased need for septal reduction therapy in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Key Points: In the VALOR-HCM study, patients with severely symptomatic obstructive HCM on maximally tolerated medical therapy were treated with either mavacamten (a novel cardiac myosin inhibitor) or placebo. The…
Stem Cells Did Not Decrease Heart Failure Readmissions in DREAM-HF
Key Points: In the DREAM-HF study, patients with persistent NYHA II-III HFrEF were treated with transendocardial mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs) or a sham procedure. The primary outcome was a mean…
EMPULSE: Empagliflozin improves outcomes in all Heart Failure admissions
Key Points: In the EMPULSE study, patients admitted with acute HF of any ejection fraction with or without diabetes were treated with either empagliflozin or placebo. The primary outcome was…
EMPEROR PRESERVED sub-study shows no difference in outcomes when stratified by ejection fraction.
Key Points: In the original EMPEROR-PRESERVED study, patients with chronic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (EF>40%) with or without diabetes were treated with empagliflozin and experienced significant reductions in…
Icosapent Ethyl Shows Signal but Not Significance for Clinical Improvement in COVID-19 Outpatients – The PREPARE-IT 2 Trial
Key Points: Icosapent ethyl (IPE) had previously shown a signal for improvement in COVID-19 symptoms and decreased inflammatory marker levels in COVID-19 patients PREPARE-IT 2 sought to determine if icosapent…
Ticagrelor Finds a Quick, Effective Reversal Agent in Bentracimab: REVERSE-IT Early Data
Key Points: To date, P2Y-12 inhibitors do not have a commercially approved reversal agent. The use of ticagrelor, which unlike clopidogrel and prasugrel, reversibly inhibits platelets has increased over the…
AXIOMATIC-TKR: Milvexian a Success for Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism after Elective Knee Arthroplasty
Key Points: Milvexian is a first-in-class rapidly absorbed oral Factor XIa inhibitor being tested for safety and efficacy for prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) Across a 16-fold range…
Aspirin Not Proven to Prevent Dementia and Cognitive Impairment – Results of the ASCEND Trial
Key Points: The ASCEND trial sought to determine whether low-dose aspirin could prevent dementia in >15,000 older individuals in the United Kingdom The randomized comparison showed that for both the…
Can Your Fitbit Accurately Detect Atrial Fibrillation? Results of The Fitbit Heart Study
Key Points Wearable technologies have optical photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors to measure heart rate coupled with software algorithms that can infer the presence of atrial fibrillation (AF) The Fitbit Heart Study…
Canaglifozin associated with Improved Quality of Life, Regardless of Ejection Fraction or Diabetes
CHIEF-HF Key Points: In the CHIEF-HF study, patients with HF of any ejection fraction with or without diabetes were treated with either canagliflozin or placebo for 12 weeks. The primary…
Avoiding triggers for Atrial Fibrillation has no effect on Quality of Life: results from I-STOP-A-FIB show
Key Points: Interest in this study was generated by patients with atrial fibrillation, who wanted to know if avoiding triggers really did create an impact. The design of the trial…