CARDIOPROGRESS
Foundation for the advancement of cardiology

Toward Personalized Heart Failure Management: Integrating Biomarkers and Multimodal Monitoring Strategies Scientists have discovered that effective treatment of heart failure (HF) requires timely detection and treatment of congestive heart failure in both inpatient and outpatient settings. As HF treatment approaches become more complex, interest in improved therapeutic strategies, including biomarker-based approaches and noninvasive and invasive remote monitoring methods, is growing.

Factor XI Inhibitor Abelacimab Cuts Bleeding Risk Across Age Groups in Atrial Fibrillation Among adults with atrial fibrillation (AF), those who received the factor XI inhibitor abelacimab had a lower risk for major or clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding than those who received the oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban across age groups, with greater absolute risk reductions in older adults.

High Salivary Aldosterone Can Signal Future Heart Disease Researchers cross-sectionally compared the salivary free AldAR among men with coronary heart disease, essential hypertension, and normotension and prospectively evaluated whether the AldAR could predict the risk for coronary heart disease.

Weight Gain Risks: The Ultraprocessed Food Connection Researchers analyzed data from 24,453 Brazilian adults (79.7% women) in the NutriNet Brasil cohort study, who were followed up for a median of 43.6 months, to assess the association between consumption of ultraprocessed foods and weight gain.

Low Vitamin D Levels Signal Increased Heart Risk in Seniors In older adults, lower levels of vitamin D metabolites and periostin, a protein involved in remodelling and repairing tissues, were linked to an increased cardiovascular (CV) risk. Low periostin levels were correlated with low vitamin D levels, and when all three markers were considered together, only the active form of vitamin D independently predicted the CV risk.

Mapping the evidence on mHealth interventions for cardiovascular event care in Africa: a scoping review The burden of cardiovascular disease in Africa is projected to increase significantly over the next decade, placing additional strain on already overburdened healthcare systems. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies represent a promising approach to addressing these challenges. This review analyzes the use of mHealth solutions in cardiovascular care in Africa.

Concept and practice in the use of high-dose eicosapentaenoic acid for cardiovascular disease prevention in hypertriglyceridaemia Genetic and epidemiological evidence indicates that triglyceride-rich lipoproteins are causal risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Elevated levels of plasma triglyceride are common in patients who are diabetic or obese and contribute substantially to residual, ongoing risk of an ASCVD event in individuals on low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-lowering treatment.

Early Blood Pressure Rise Signals Worse Stroke Outcomes An increase in systolic blood pressure (sBP) within the first 24 hours after alteplase treatment was associated with worse functional outcomes at 3 months after acute ischaemic stroke. Both higher sBP at baseline and increases in sBP during the first 24 hours were linked to poorer neurologic function. Additionally, higher sBP at baseline independently increased the risk for symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage within 48 hours from the onset of stroke.

Should BP Be Lowered in Isolated Diastolic Hypertension? In a meta-analysis of 51 randomized controlled trials, lowering systolic blood pressure (BP) was linked to similar reductions in the risk for major cardiovascular events in people with and without isolated diastolic hypertension, with benefits consistent across diastolic BP levels, including among those with baseline systolic BP less than 130 mm Hg.

Do Fertility Treatments Raise Heart Disease Risks in Women? The use of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) was associated with a modest increase in the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), without a clear overall dose-response relationship. Programmed frozen cycles showed a stronger association with CVD and a clear dose-response relationship as their number increased.

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.

2025 ESC Congress HOT LINE sessions: key clinical studies From August 29 to September 1, 2025, the regular Congress of the European Society of Cardiology was held in Madrid (Spain), combined this year with the World Congress of Cardiology. The main theme of the event was "Global Health: Cardiology Without Borders".
This event brought together leading experts and researchers from different countries and allowed them to discuss new research and achievements in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Cardioprogress Newsletter Dear Colleagues!
The Cardioprogress Foundation resumes publishing a quarterly newsletter dedicated to scientific news in cardiology. If you are interested in specific topics and details of scientific discoveries in the field of cardiology, please write to us. (The e-mail address is indicated on the last page of the newsletter).

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.