ACC to showcase ‘exceptional’ science, mark 75 years at upcoming scientific session
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Key takeaways:
- The American College of Cardiology Scientific Session will take place April 6 to 8 in Atlanta.
- This year also marks the ACC’s 75th annual meeting.
The 2024 American College of Cardiology Scientific Session will be held live in Atlanta from April 6 to 8 and virtually, with 43 late-breaking trials and featured clinical research presentations.
This year’s meeting will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the ACC; a reception will take place after convocation on Monday.
“This is an incredibly exciting year for the American College of Cardiology,” Douglas E. Drachman, MD, FACC, the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center director of education, Teresa G. and Ferdinand F. Martignetti Endowed Chair for cardiovascular medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and chair of the 2024 Scientific Session, said during a web briefing before the meeting. “ACC will offer what we hope will be 3 days of tremendously impactful science and learning, with in-person and streaming access to educational sessions, including late-breaking clinical trials, featured clinical research, young investigator awards, keynotes and so much more.”
Late-breaking science
The meeting will feature 23 late-breaking clinical trials across five sessions, as well as presentations from three featured clinical research sessions. A “clinical and investigative horizons” session, first introduced last year, will return to highlight cutting-edge CV research.
Select late-breaking science scheduled to be presented includes:
- the double-blind, randomized placebo controlled RELIEVE-HF trial of an interatrial shunt in patients with HF with reduced and preserved ejection fraction;
- the EMPACT-MI trial of empagliflozin (Jardiance, Boehringer Ingelheim) after acute MI;
- the AEGIS-II trial evaluating CV outcomes following apolipoprotein A-I infusions in patients with acute MI;
- the BE ACTIVE randomized clinical trial of gamification, financial incentives or both combined to increase physical activity among patients with increased risk for major adverse CV events;
- the randomized SMART trial: self-expanding compared with balloon-expandable transcatheter aortic valve replacement in patients with small aortic annuli;
- the DanGer Shock trial of a percutaneous transvalvular microaxial flow pump in patients with infarct-related cardiogenic shock; and
- a trial evaluating preventive PCI compared with medical therapy atherosclerotic coronary vulnerable plaques.
The clinical and investigative horizons session on Sunday will include “food for thought” research from the Huddle Study, assessing the prevalence of CVD and CVD risk factors among NFL alumni and their family members, and the Feel Trial, a clinical trial to evaluate the influence of a spirituality intervention on BP control.
“We have practice-changing science that will be presented all throughout the meeting. That includes our late-breaking clinical trials as well as our featured clinical research,” Kathryn L. Berlacher, MD, MS, FACC, assistant professor of medicine at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), associate chief of cardiology for education and program director of the cardiology fellowship program at UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute, and vice chair of the 2024 ACC Scientific Session, said during the press conference. “These rooms will be crowded with a lot of buzz, and we are excited to share [these sessions] with you.”
Other sessions not to miss
During the 3-day meeting, in-person and virtual attendees can join more than 300 education sessions, 11 learning pathways, 12 guideline-specific sessions and six virtual channels, as well as take advantage of 13 hands-on simulation stations. There will also be 11 gameshow-style sessions that blend education and entertainment, including “Extreme Makeover, Diet Edition,” “The Great ECG Challenge” and “Game of Shones.”
Interactive sessions at the Heart2Heart stage will include a presentation on Saturday about efforts to create a new independent CV board, called “Charting a New Frontier.”. A four-part intensive on the business of cardiology, led by Alison Bailey, MD, FACC, and Ty Gluckman, MD, FACC, will offer presentations on business basics, optimizing the care team, sustainability of the system and hot topics in the business of cardiology.
Five keynote presentations will take place at the upcoming meeting:
- the James T. Dove keynote with Karen E. Joynt Maddox, MD, FACC, on Saturday: “Why Quality Increasingly Matters”;
- the Dan G. McNamara keynote with Josephine B. Isabel-Jones, MD, on Saturday: "From Civil Rights to Patient Equity – A Legacy of Strength”;
- the Louis F. Bishop keynote with Gerald Blackwell, MD, MBA, FACC, on Sunday: “The Future of Cardiology: Value-Based Care, Private Equity and Practice Landscape”;
- the Douglas P. Zipes Distinguished Young Scientist keynote with Emily Shou Wai Lau, MD, FACC, on Sunday; and
- the Eugene Braunwald keynote with Robert M. Califf, MD, MACC, on Monday: “Time for a Revamp of the Clinical Evidence System.”
More than 7,600 abstracts were submitted for presentation at the session and 4,600 were accepted, Drachman said.
“We received so many exceptional abstracts this year,” Drachman said. “This was one of the greatest challenges for me: The level of science was so exceptional that one has to draw the line because there is only so much time. We tried as a committee to make sure that there is something for everyone.”
Five keynote presentations will take place:
- the James T. Dove keynote with Karen E. Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH, FACC, on Saturday: “Why Quality Increasingly Matters”;
- the Dan G. McNamara keynote with Josephine B. Isabel-Jones, MD, on Saturday: “From Civil Rights to Patient Equity – A Legacy of Strength”;
- the Louis F. Bishop keynote with Gerald Blackwell, MD, MBA, FACC, on Sunday: “The Future of Cardiology: Value-Based Care, Private Equity and Practice Landscape”;
- the Douglas P. Zipes Distinguished Young Scientist keynote with Emily Shou Wai Lau, MD, FACC, on Sunday; and
- the Eugene Braunwald keynote with Robert M. Califf, MD, MACC, on Monday: “Time for a Revamp of the Clinical Evidence System.”
In addition, ACC is also participating in the Atlantic Heart Health Fair on Tuesday at Atlanta Technical College. There, ACC leaders and local health care providers will offer education on risks and lifestyle choices related to peripheral artery disease, hypertension and high cholesterol and will provide PAD screenings from the Johnson & Johnson “Save Legs. Change Lives.” mobile screening unit, Drachman said.
“I am a vascular medicine specialist and this is an area that is near and dear to my heart,” Drachman said. “PAD afflicts over 8 million people in the U.S. alone and is a disease that is tremendously underrecognized but confers significant morbidity and mortality to those who have it. I am grateful we will be making our statement in Atlanta.”
Healio | Cardiology Today will be on-site in Atlanta to report the latest news from the ACC Scientific Session, with physician perspective, researcher interviews and more. Follow our breaking updates here and by following @CardiologyToday on X (formerly Twitter).
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American College of Cardiology. ACC.24 Preview Web Briefing. March 22, 2024.
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