Cardiology Today's top stories in April

Cardiology Today has compiled a list of the five most-viewed stories on Healio.com/Cardiology in April. This month, our readers were most interested in the benefits of intensive LDL lowering, hormone therapy in transgender patients, predicting mortality with ambulatory BP measurements, CV risk for mothers of children with congenital heart defects, the impact of walking speed on hypertension risk and CVD, and much more.

More intensive LDL lowering decreases risk for CV, total mortality

Patients with higher baseline LDL levels who underwent more intensive LDL lowering had a greater risk reduction of total and CV mortality compared with those with less intensive treatment, according to a meta-analysis published in JAMA.

CV risk increases with hormone therapy in transgender patients

LAS VEGAS — Hormone therapy in transgender women is associated with increased CV risk, according to a presentation at the National Lipid Association Scientific Sessions.

Ambulatory BP measurements strong predictors of mortality

Ambulatory BP measurements were better predictors of CV and all-cause mortality compared with clinic BP measurements, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

In addition, researchers found that masked hypertension conferred worse mortality outcomes than sustained hypertension.

Mothers of children with congenital heart defects may have increased late CV risk

Women who gave birth to children with congenital heart defects may have elevated risk for CV hospitalization later in life, according to a study published in Circulation.

According to Nathalie Auger, MD, MSc, from the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center, and colleagues, women who have given birth to infants with congenital heart defects may benefit from earlier attention to traditional CV risk factors and aggressive primary prevention strategies.

Faster walking speed lowers CV hospitalization risk in hypertension, CVD

Patients with hypertension and CVD who walk at a faster pace had lower rates of hospitalization vs. those walking at a slower pace, according to results published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

“Walking is the most popular type of exercise in adults. It is free, does not require special training and can be done almost anywhere,” Carlotta Merlo, MD, from the Centre for Biomedical Studies Applied to Sports at the University of Ferrara, Italy, said in a press release. “Even short, but regular, walks have substantial health benefits.”