CARDIOPROGRESS
Foundation for the advancement of cardiology

Artificially Sweetened Drinks Linked to Increased AF Risk Drinking 2 L or more of artificially sweetened drinks per week was associated with a 20% increased risk for atrial fibrillation (AF) in a new observational study.

Spinal Cord Injury Tied to Greater Risk for Heart Disease Spinal cord injury (SCI) is associated with a significantly greater risk for heart disease than the general non-SCI population, especially among those with severe disability, new observational data suggested.

Good Performance for Universal CVD Risk Prediction Model A universal cardiovascular disease (CVD) prediction tool performs well in patients with and without atherosclerotic CVD (ASCVD), a new study showed, suggesting this model could facilitate transition from primary to secondary prevention by streamlining risk classification.

Long-term cardiac follow-up of athletes infected with SARS-CoV-2 after resumption of elite-level sports Longitudinal consequences and potential interactions of COVID-19 and elite-level sports and exercise are unclear. Therefore, scientists determined the long-term detrimental cardiac effects of the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 infection and the highest level of sports and exercise.

Deaths Linked to Substance Use, CVD on the Rise Deaths caused by both substance use (SU) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) increased substantially in the United States between 1999 and 2019, with the most pronounced rise among women, American Indians, younger people, rural residents, and users of cannabis and psychostimulants, results of new research suggest.

Colchicine May Benefit Patients With Diabetes and Recent MI A daily low dose of colchicine significantly reduces ischemic cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and a recent myocardial infarction (MI).

New Insights Into Mortality in Takotsubo Syndrome Mortality in patients with takotsubo syndrome (TTS), sometimes called broken heart syndrome or stress-induced cardiomyopathy is substantially higher than that in the general population and comparable with that in patients having myocardial infarction (MI), results of a new case-control study showed. The rates of medication use are similar for TTS and MI, despite no current clinical trials or recommendations to guide such therapies, the authors noted.

Association between catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation and mortality or stroke Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation was associated with a reduction in the primary endpoint of all-cause mortality or stroke. This result was driven by a marked reduction in all-cause mortality.

Death of a Sibling Linked to an Increased Risk for Early-Onset Heart Disease People who experience the death of a sibling as children or in adulthood may be at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular illnesses.

Short-Stay Units May Be a Safe Alternative for Patients With HF Quality of life for patients with acute heart failure (AHF) managed in a short-term unit (SSU) is no worse than that for those who are hospitalized, a new randomized trial showed. They also had an increased chance of being alive and out of hospital at 30 days and did not experience more adverse events, results suggested.

Roche Blood Test for Lp(a) Designated Breakthrough Device A blood test that measures lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] has received breakthrough device designation from the US Food and Drug Administration. The Tina-quant Lp(a) RxDx assay, developed by Roche in partnership with Amgen, is designed to identify adults with elevated Lp(a) levels who may benefit from lipid-lowering therapies currently in development.

New TAVI Platform Adds More Valve Sizes to Choose From Intermediate valve sizes are at least as safe and effective as the standard sizes now available for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), according to an international randomized trial.

New Score Predicts Risk for Death on Heart Transplant List Allocation score, called the US candidate risk score (US-CRS), outperformed the current therapy-based 6-status system in rank ordering heart transplant candidates by medical urgency.

Near-Death Experiences During CPR: An Impetus for Better Care If someone has been in cardiac arrest for 10 minutes, the brain is permanently damaged and there's nothing to do, right? Not so according to emerging evidence that suggests that the brain shows signs of electrical recovery for as long as an hour into ongoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This time between cardiac arrest and awakening can be a period of vivid experiences for the dying patient before they return to life — a phenomenon known as "recalled death."

Novel Biomarkers for Aortic Stenosis Identified A new analysis that used plasma proteomics, cardiac imaging, and event surveillance of participants in a longitudinal cohort study identified 52 circulating proteins with significant links to aortic valve (AV) hemodynamics and the risk for AV-related hospitalizations. Two of these biomarkers had particularly robust associations.

Recommendations for magnetic resonance imaging in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices Over the last several decades, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has become the diagnostic modality of choice for several conditions, cardiac and non-cardiac. However, MR uses a static magnetic field, gradient magnetic fields and pulsed radiofrequency energy, all of which may interact with metallic and electronic components within the field. As such, patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) have traditionally been precluded from MR imaging given the potential harm from mechanical force and torque, heating and tissue damage, unwanted myocardial stimulation or electrical reset.

Cancer Identified as a New Cardiovascular Risk Factor A history of cancer is an independent predictor of major cardiovascular events in patients undergoing coronary angioplasty. Cancer should be considered a new cardiovascular risk factor in primary and secondary prevention.

Management of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a disease characterised by fibrofatty replacement of the ventricular myocardium due to specific mutations, leading to ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Treating this condition can be challenging due to progressive fibrosis, phenotypic variations and small patient cohorts limiting the feasibility of conducting meaningful clinical trials.

Mortality Still Significant in High-Risk PE Despite Advances 1 in 5 patients with high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) and more than 2 in 5 with catastrophic PE with hemodynamic collapse die in the hospital, a large contemporary analysis showed.

ECG Deep-Learning Algorithm Predicts Mortality Post Surgery Algorithm interpreting preoperative ECGs can identify risk for postoperative death in those undergoing cardiac surgery, noncardiac surgery, and interventional procedures, a large new study showed. The algorithm was more effective in identifying high-risk patients who went on to experience postoperative mortality than a widely used risk tool.