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.

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.

Al Stethoscope rolled out to 100 GP clinics to help diagnose heart failure GP clinics in London and Wales will receive an AI-powered tool as part of a trial to help improve the diagnosis of a deadly heart condition.

Classification Identifies Four Stages of Heart Attack The Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) has developed a four-stage classification of acute atherothrombotic myocardial infarction (MI) based on the severity of the injury to the myocardium.

AHA Joins New Cardiovascular Certification Group ABCVM The American Heart Association (AHA) has now formally voted to join several other cardiovascular societies to form a new professional certification board for cardiovascular medicine, to be known as the American Board of Cardiovascular Medicine (ABCVM).

Coronary artery calcium: from risk prediction to treatment allocation and clinical trials Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is a direct measure of an individual’s coronary atherosclerotic burden.

FDA Okays First Extravascular ICD System The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Medtronic's novel "extravascular" implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (Aurora EV-ICD) system, which uses a single lead implanted substernally to allow anti-tachycardia pacing and low-energy defibrillation while avoiding the vascular space for lead placement.

New Tool to Guide Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Researchers developed TJ-ICE–guided TAVR to facilitate implanting a heart valve at an optimal depth, guided by direct visualization of the membranous septum (MS) during the procedure.

Redefining CVD Risk: Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) Syndrome Citing the strong overlap between heart disease, kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity, the American Heart Association (AHA) has for the first time formally defined what they are calling cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome.

ACP Revises Standard on Cardiorespiratory Death Determination The American College of Physicians (ACP) has issued a new position paper on determination of death that includes a clarification to the 1981 Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA), but otherwise reaffirms the current standards.