Baxdrostat: A “Game Changer” for Hypertension? A new class of antihypertensive agent that blocks the production of aldosterone — a key hormone believed to drive increased blood pressure — has shown impressive results in one of the first pivotal phase 3 trials in patients with resistant or uncontrolled hypertension.

ACC Recommends Vaccination Against Respiratory Illness in Cardiovascular Disease Adults with heart disease should get vaccinated against a range of respiratory viruses, according to new clinical guidance from the American College of Cardiology.

New Type 2 Diabetes Guidance Ties Treatment Choice to Cardio-Renal Risk New guidance on preventing cardiovascular (CV) and renal complications in type 2 diabetes (T2D) emphasizes tailoring therapy to a patient’s individual risk profile.

ACC and AHA guidelines for the treatment of hypertension have been updated The target blood pressure level for adults remains below 130/80 mm Hg, but drug therapy should be initiated sooner, according to new guidelines published by the American Heart Association (AHA) and American College of Cardiology (ACC). Eleven other medical organizations endorsed the new guidelines, which replace those issued in 2017.

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.