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Top 10 articles from 2017 cardiology meetings
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From the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions to the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy, Cardiology Today and Cardiology Today’s Intervention provide live coverage from important conferences throughout the year.
Cardiology Today has compiled a list of our readers’ top 10 abstracts, videos and late-breaking clinical trials presented at cardiology meetings in 2017.
New guidelines broaden definition of hypertension
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Hypertension is now defined as systolic BP 130 mm Hg/diastolic BP 80 mm Hg, which will lead to a new diagnosis in approximately 14% more Americans, according to newly released, long-awaited guidelines published by the American Heart Association, the ACC and nine other societies.
The guidelines lower the threshold for hypertension from systolic BP 140 mm Hg/diastolic BP 90 mm Hg, and eliminate the category of prehypertension.
VIDEO: Expert discusses BP management among elderly patients with kidney disease
BOSTON — Kidney disease is a serious and growing problem among the elderly and poses challenges for BP management, George L. Bakris, MD, said in this Cardiology Today video exclusive from the Cardiometabolic Health Congress.
Sleep apnea may confer increased AF risk
BOSTON — Patients with obstructive sleep apnea or sleep-disordered breathing have an increased risk for atrial fibrillation, according to a poster presented at the Cardiometabolic Health Conference.
Irini Youssef, MS, of the department of medicine at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and colleagues analyzed data from 19,837 patients with obstructive sleep apnea or sleep-disordered breathing from nine studies. Sample sizes from each trial ranged from 160 patients to 6,841 patients.
Aggressive treatment to prevent amputation important for CLI
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — The strong association between amputation and mortality in patients with critical limb ischemia means that patients must be treated aggressively to prevent amputation, according to a presenter at the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy.
CLI affects 1 million Medicare-eligible patients per year at an estimated annual cost of $3 billion, and 25% of patients receive amputation as a first-line treatment, said Jihad A. Mustapha, MD, FACC, FSCAI, director of cardiovascular research at Metro Health University of Michigan Health in Wyoming, Michigan.
Gut microbes associated with CV risk
BOSTON — Gut microbe-generated metabolites play a critical role in both development and prediction of CVD, and serve as a therapeutic target, according to a keynote presentation.
“Our largest environmental exposure is what we eat, and that is all perceived through the filter of our gut microbiome,” Stanley L. Hazen, MD, PhD, chair of the department of cellular and molecular medicine, section head of preventive cardiology and rehabilitation and director of the Center for Microbiome and Human Health at Cleveland Clinic, said in the presentation. “The gut microbiome is an active participant in many facets of cardiovascular disease and thrombosis.”
Risk stratification essential for acute PE
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — The presentation of acute pulmonary embolism varies, and risk stratification of patients is essential to achieve optimal outcomes, a speaker said at the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy.
Catheter-based therapy may be most appropriate for patients with massive PE who are stable or already on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and patients with high-risk submassive PE, said Victor F. Tapson, MD, FCCP, FRCP, professor of medicine, pulmonary and critical care at Cedars-Sinai.
Closed-loop stimulation pacing program reduces syncope in SPAIN trial
WASHINGTON — A pacemaker delivering a closed-loop stimulation pacing program was associated with a sevenfold reduction in syncope, researchers reported at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.
FOURIER: Evolocumab reduces CV events regardless of baseline LDL, statin intensity
PHILADELPHIA — A subanalysis of the FOURIER trial presented at the National Lipid Association Scientific Sessions found that evolocumab was linked to reduction in CV events regardless of a patient’s LDL or intensity of statin therapy at baseline.
EINSTEIN-CHOICE: Recurrent VTE lower with rivaroxaban vs. aspirin, without rise in bleeding
WASHINGTON — Patients with venous thromboembolism assigned 10 mg or 20 mg of rivaroxaban had lower risk for recurrence compared with those who used aspirin, with no difference in bleeding, according to new data from the EINSTEIN-CHOICE trial.
“Rivaroxaban 10 mg once daily provides an additional option for extended VTE treatment, one we did not have available to us before,” Phillip S. Wells, MD, from the department of medicine at University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Canada, said during a presentation.
REVEAL-AF: Silent AF common in high-risk patients
CHICAGO — New data from REVEAL-AF showed that approximately 30% of patients at high risk for atrial fibrillation but previously undiagnosed had silent AF.
“We know that strokes from AF are far larger and are associated with higher disability, mortality and costs; we know that the formation of an atrial thromboembolism doesn’t depend on the presence of other AF symptoms; and we also know that risk for AF-related stroke is reduced with oral anticoagulation,” researcher James A. Reiffel, MD, professor emeritus of medicine at Columbia University in New York, said during a presentation at the Heart Rhythm Society Scientific Sessions.