CARDIOPROGRESS
Foundation for the advancement of cardiology

Blood Pressure Variability Linked to Mortality in Patients With ANCA-Associated Vasculitis Among patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis undergoing maintenance therapy, greater visit-to-visit systolic blood pressure variability (SBPV) was independently associated with an increased risk for all-cause mortality.

Morphine Underused for End-of-Life Dyspnea in the Emergency Department Compared with Inpatient Care Among 250 patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with dyspnea at the end of life, 15.2% received morphine in the ED, whereas 68% received it during subsequent inpatient care. Patients with lung cancer or a do-not-resuscitate order were more likely to receive morphine in the ED, but its use was not associated with reduced survival.

Present state and future of screening for atrial fibrillation: a state-of-the-art review Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia and is a leading cause of stroke and heart failure yet often remains undiagnosed. Screening has been proposed to identify asymptomatic AF and initiate preventive treatment, but evidence for reduction in hard clinical endpoints such as stroke and heart failure remains inconclusive.

Levosimendan versus dobutamine in acute decompensated heart failure: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials Acute decompensated heart failure with reduced ejection fraction often requires inotropic support. While dobutamine is commonly used, its safety and efficacy remain debated. Levosimendan has emerged as a potential alternative, with distinct pharmacological properties.

Cardiovascular Benefits of Semaglutide in SELECT Trial Not Fully Explained by Weight Loss and Other Improvements In adults with obesity and established cardiovascular disease (CVD), semaglutide was associated with improvements in several risk factors. However, those changes only accounted for part of the reduced risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) noted in the SELECT trial.

Peripheral Artery Disease Linked to Higher Risk for Mortality Post-Kidney Transplant Among kidney transplant recipients aged 65 years or older, peripheral artery disease was independently associated with an increased risk for mortality in the first year post-transplant. Chronological age was not independently associated with mortality overall, although recipients older than 75 years showed a trend towards a higher risk for mortality.

Role of routine surveillance stress testing in patients with or without imaging-guided or physiology-guided PCI The 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 Amyloidosis A 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.

Weight Loss During Heart Failure Hospitalization Linked to Lower 30-Day Rehospitalization Risk Patients hospitalized for heart failure who were treated with intravenous loop diuretics and achieved a weight loss of at least 2 kg between admission and discharge had a reduced risk for HF rehospitalization within 30 days.

Allergic vasospastic angina: a systematic review Allergic 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.

Scotland Accepts New RNAi Therapy for Cardiac Amyloidosis The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has accepted vutrisiran sodium (Amvuttra, Alnylam UK Ltd) for restricted use in NHS Scotland as monotherapy in adults with wild-type or hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM).

European experts have proposed new criteria for the diagnosis of cardiogenic shock The European Society of Cardiology has presented new criteria for the diagnosis of cardiogenic shock, which should help to identify the condition faster and unify approaches to its diagnosis. Experts suggest assessing at the same time the signs of impaired blood supply to organs, hemodynamic disorders and severe cardiac dysfunction.

Heart Failure Rewritten: What the 2026 ESC Guidelines Mean for Primary Care At the 2026 Congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), updates to the guidelines on heart failure (HF) were presented.

A new global definition of myocardial infarction A new global definition of myocardial infarction has been devised by a task force of four major cardiology societies, with the goal of enabling cardiologists and other healthcare professionals to better diagnose and treat patients with the condition.

Most important clinical trials presented at the HOT LINE sessions of the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2026 The next Congress of the European Society of Cardiology was held in Munich (Germany) from August 28 to 31, 2026. The motto of this year's event is "Research. Innovation. Inspiration." The Congress participants reviewed 4 new texts of clinical recommendations in various fields of cardiology and other fields of medicine.

ACC and AHA updated their recommendations on statins in 2026 Cardiologists have revised the 2018 statin recommendations. After just under 10 years, during which the target indicators were based solely on percentage reduction, clear numerical target levels for low‑density lipoproteins have been re‑established.

New Tool to Guide Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement A new German trigger tool identified adverse events in pediatric cardiology admissions, with most events causing temporary harm. The tool demonstrated good interrater reliability and was feasible for systematic detection of patient harm in hospitalized children.

The release of a new open access journal of cardiology In August 2026, a group of cardiologists launched the peer—reviewed open access journal OpenSource: Cardiology. The main difference of the publication is the complete absence of publication fees for the authors.

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.