Top stories in cardiology: New antiplatelet therapy lowers bleeding risk in stroke, delayed cardioversion noninferior to early cardioversion

Among the top stories in cardiology last week were a study that found a new antiplatelet agent conferred reduced risk for bleeding and may be a safe and effective alternative for patients with stroke and trial results that suggested delayed cardioversion for patients who presented to the ED with atrial fibrillation was noninferior to early cardioversion for return to sinus rhythm at 4 weeks.

Other highlights included a study that found men with a resting heart rate of 75 beats per minute or higher in midlife had an increased risk for cardiovascular events and death compared with men whose resting heart rate was unchanged over 2 decades of follow-up, findings that indicated half of patients on statins have a suboptimal response at 2 years and a study that suggested coronary artery calcification score and self-rated health status may improve cardiovascular risk prediction.

New antiplatelet lowers bleeding risk in stroke

The novel antiplatelet agent ACT017 confers reduced risk for bleeding and may be a safe and effective alternative for patients with stroke, according to early findings published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. Read more.

Delayed cardioversion noninferior to early cardioversion for atrial fibrillation

A wait-and-see approach for patients who presented to the ED with atrial fibrillation was noninferior to early cardioversion for return to sinus rhythm at 4 weeks, according to results from the RACE 7 ACWAS trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Read more.

Midlife resting heart rate of 75 beats per minute may increase CV, mortality risk in men

Men with a resting heart rate of 75 beats per minute or higher in midlife had an increased risk for cardiovascular events and death compared with men whose resting heart rate was unchanged over 2 decades of follow-up, according to a study published in Open Heart. Read more.

Half of patients on statins have suboptimal response at 2 years

More than half of patients undergoing statin therapy failed to achieve LDL reduction of more than 40% within 2 years, and these patients were at elevated CVD risk compared with optimal responders, according to findings published in Heart. Read more.

Coronary artery calcification scores, self-reported health status may improve CV risk prediction

Coronary artery calcification score and self-rated health status were poorly connected and may in fact be complementary when predicting cardiovascular risk, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Read more.