CARDIOPROGRESS
Foundation for the advancement of cardiology

To Beat Cigarette Addiction, Experts Embrace Vapes Clinicians can now recommend vapes, along with nicotine patches and gums, to their adult patients who want to quit smoking traditional cigarettes. The guidance, from a leading international group of tobacco researchers, represents a sharp pivot from an earlier stance that evolved as evidence mounted that vaping may be more effective in helping people quit cigarettes than traditional nicotine replacement therapies like varenicline or bupropion.

New Guidelines Expand Statin Eligibility to More Than Half of US Adults A new study has shown that the updated recommendations of the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology on dyslipidemia, published in March 2026, expand indications for statin therapy for primary prevention, now covering adults aged 30-79 years (instead of 40-75 years), assessing the risk for several decades ahead and using an updated risk calculator, which will allow such treatment to spread. 87.5 million adults in the United States.

A new risk stratification tool A new risk stratification tool known as CA4TCH — which relies solely on clinical history — could help predict which patients with a suspected hypersensitivity to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) will have a hypersensitivity confirmed during a drug provocation test.

First Major Guidelines Issued for Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion Devices Created to address the “uncertainty and practice variation” that surrounds transcatheter left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO), the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions and the Heart Rhythm Society have published jointly the first set of guidelines for the use of the procedure.

Your Heart May Be Older Than You Think Some people are said to have old souls. Some may have old hearts, too. Many Americans, particularly men with less education, lower income, and those from certain minority groups, have a “heart age” that is much older than what the calendar may indicate.

Lp(a) Levels: When and Why It’s Clinically Relevant The presence of high lipoprotein (a), or Lp(a), levels increases the risk for cardiovascular disease. Incorporating Lp(a) screening into clinical practice may significantly impact patient outcomes.

APOE4 May Raise Brain Bleed Risk in Apixaban Users With AF Carriers of the apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 (APOE ε4) allele had a threefold higher risk for intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) when taking apixaban for atrial fibrillation (AF) compared with noncarriers, a new study suggested.

Novel Algorithm Transforms Echocardiographic Assessment of Heart Filling Pressures A new algorithm for estimating left ventricular filling pressure (LVFP) by echocardiography reduced indeterminate results to just two cases compared with 38 using previous guidelines, achieving 86% accuracy in 949 patients, a new study found. The algorithm showed particular improvement for patients with normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), while maintaining similar accuracy for cases of reduced LVEF.

Novel GLP-1 Agonist Promotes Safe and Effective Weight Loss Ecnoglutide, a novel glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, was significantly more effective than placebo for inducing weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, based on data from more than 600 individuals.

The New Playbook for Ditching Dangerous Senior Meds A new tool presented at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting may give clinicians practical and safer alternatives to risky medications for patients.