Top stories in cardiology: Vegan diet lowers C-reactive protein, statin benefits outweigh risks

The top two stories in cardiology last week were data that demonstrated a vegan diet resulted in lower high-sensitivity C-reactive protein vs. the American Heart Association diet and results of an American Heart Association benefit-risk assessment on statins.

Other popular stories included a study linking the timing of influenza vaccinations and the risk for death in patients with heart failure, a report regarding the benefit of adding stress myocardial CT perfusion imaging to examinations with CT angiography and data showing a gene variant’s link to early-onset atrial fibrillation. – by Janel Miller

Vegan diet reduces C-reactive protein in patients with coronary artery disease

A vegan diet may be considered in patients with coronary artery disease on guideline-based therapy to lower high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, a risk marker of adverse outcomes, according to findings published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Read more.

American Heart Association: Statin benefits outweigh risks

An American Heart Association scientific statement on statin treatment concluded that most adverse effects from the drugs are not serious enough to warrant discontinuing them. Read more.

Frequent, earlier influenza vaccinations reduce death risk in heart failure

Compared with intermittent and late vaccinations, frequent and earlier influenza vaccinations were associated with larger reductions in risk for death in patients with heart failure, researchers reported in Circulation. Read more.

CT angiography plus CT perfusion imaging may reduce revascularizations

Adding stress myocardial CT perfusion imaging to examinations with CT angiography may safely increase diagnostic specificity and reduce the need for invasive treatments in patients with possible ischemic heart disease, according to a study published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging. Read more.

Variant in titin gene linked to early-onset atrial fibrillation

A loss-of-function variant in the titin gene, or TTN, was statistically and significantly associated with early-onset atrial fibrillation, according to a study published in JAMA. Read more.