Role of routine surveillance stress testing in patients with or without imaging-guided or physiology-guided PCIThe analysis of the randomized study “Pragmatic Comparison of Symptomatic and Routine Stress Testing in High‑Risk Patients Who Underwent PCI” showed that the routine strategy of follow‑up functional testing 1 year after percutaneous coronary intervention does not reduce the risk of death, myocardial infarction, or hospitalization due to unstable angina within 2 years. At the same time, it more often leads to invasive coronary angiography and repeat revascularization without clinical benefit.
Intense Septal Enhancement on Cardiac MRI Flags Cardiac AmyloidosisA retrospective study showed that intensive gadolinium contrast enhancement of the anterior interatrial septum during cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, with a high degree of specificity (98%), makes it possible to diagnose cardiac amyloidosis when compared with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy.
Allergic vasospastic angina: a systematic reviewAllergic vasospastic angina (also known as Kunis syndrome) is a little‑studied subtype of vasospastic angina in which spasm of the coronary arteries is triggered by an allergen. Scientists conducted a study in which they assessed the clinical characteristics, mechanisms, and treatment methods for this interesting subtype of angina.
Fitness Changes Over Time Linked to Cardiovascular RiskA large UK Biobank analysis showed that even a small annual improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness among adults was independently associated with lower risks for incident cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular mortality, whereas declining fitness was linked to a progressively higher risk in a clear dose-dependent pattern.