A novel, minimally invasive method of determining whether fatty deposits in a coronary artery are restricting blood flow to a patient’s heart performed similarly to the standard, more-invasive procedure in a large multi-country European randomized trial presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26). The technique is one of several minimally invasive approaches in development that could make this technology available to more patients and ultimately improve outcomes for patients with serious heart disease.

The cholesterol-lowering therapy evolocumab reduced the risk of major adverse cardiac events by nearly one-third among patients who had no known significant atherosclerosis and had diabetes, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

Using cholesterol-lowering medications more intensively to achieve a more aggressive target for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) reduced the rate of major cardiovascular events by one-third among patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

The investigational drug tonlamarsen—which is designed to lower blood pressure by reducing the production of angiotensinogen, a protein that turns into the hormone that regulates blood pressure—caused a significant and sustained drop in angiotensinogen but its impact on blood pressure was less clear, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

Black adults with high blood pressure who received dietitian counseling and home deliveries of groceries aligned with the DASH diet—meaning high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, nuts, seeds, legumes and lean proteins—had an average overall reduction in systolic blood pressure of 7 mm Hg at three months overall and a 5 mm Hg reduction compared with participants who received only basic dietary guidance and a grocery stipend, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

About The Study: The Empagliflozin Outcome Trial in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction (EMPEROR-Preserved) risk models demonstrated good performance in Finerenone Trial to Investigate Efficacy and Safety Superior to Placebo in Patients With Heart Failure (FINEARTS-HF). Baseline risk did not modify the relative treatment effect of finerenone.

About The Study: In this post hoc analysis, the dual glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide agonist tirzepatide, compared with the GLP-1 agonist dulaglutide, was associated with a lower incidence of a broad 6-component composite cardiovascular and kidney end point in patients with diabetes and established cardiovascular disease.

First-of-its kind trial results presented by Mount Sinai researcher may help fine-tune treatment protocols

The first randomized trial to test whether adding a small, temporary pump to allow the heart to rest and intentionally delaying percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as coronary angioplasty, for 30 minutes to reduce heart damage compared with standard immediate PCI in patients with  heart attacks at risk for a large amount of heart damage found no significant difference between the two groups, the study’s primary endpoint. The research was presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).