News and views

We are delighted that the BJC is now an offcial partner with Anticoagulation UK....

This year’s meeting of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) provided results from a wide range of clinical trials on anticoagulation, lipid lowering, diet and cardiovascular outcomes, and the use of oxygen in acute myocardial infarction. There were also exciting findings with a novel anti-inflammatory agent, targeted at atherosclerosis. Held in Barcelona, Spain, from 26th – 30th August 2017, our report – written by the BJC team and Drs Kevin Cheng and Chris Allen – focuses on the implications of these new data, as well as providing overviews on electrolyte disturbances and iron deficiency in patients with systolic heart failure....

A consistent criticism of the ESC congress in recent years has been that, outside of the chronic heart failure arena at least, the late breaker sessions have lacked headline-grabbing, big-hitting landmark trials. Not this year. “This is our 1994!” proclaimed chief investigator, Paul Ridker (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA), on presentation of the results of CANTOS (Canakinumab Anti-Inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study), drawing parallels with the practice-changing impact of the 4S (Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study) trial, which demonstrated the efficacy of statins for the first time and opened the door to lipid lowering as a highly prosperous therapeutic pathway in cardiovascular disease in the process....

In the same hotline session as CANTOS, the results of COMPASS (Cardiovascular Outcomes for People using Anticoagulation Strategies) also caught the attention. In a stable cardiovascular disease population (established coronary or peripheral arterial disease), over 27,000 patients were randomised to one of three groups: rivaroxaban 2.5 mg b.i.d plus aspirin 100 mg daily rivaroxaban 5 mg b.i.d, or aspirin 100 mg daily alone. ...

RE-DUAL PCI (the Randomized Evaluation of Dual Antithrombotic Therapy With Dabigatran vs Triple Therapy With Warfarin in Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) has shown a significant reduction in the incidence of bleeding complications in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing stent placement in patients receiving dabigatran dual therapy (dabigatran, plus clopidogrel or ticagrelor) compared to those receiving warfarin triple therapy (warfarin, plus clopidogrel or ticagrelor, and aspirin)....

Results from the REVEAL (Randomized Evaluation of the Effects of Anacetrapib through Lipid Modification) study show anacetrapib, an investigational cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor, lowers the risk of myocardial infarction and related cardiovascular complications in patients intensively treated with a statin....

The development of new potassium binding agents has increased interest in the field of hyperkalaemia management. This was the topic of a Vifor-sponsored satellite symposium at the meeting entitled ‘Enabling and optimising renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitor therapy in cardio-renal patients through hyperkalaemia management’....

As one in every two heart failure patients has iron deficiency, an appropriate and timely question asked during the meeting was: “should iron be at the heart of our concerns?”...

Oxygen therapy does not improve survival in patients with heart attack symptoms, according to late-breaking research presented at a hotline session and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine (https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoal1706222)....

Researchers are calling for a reconsideration of global dietary guidelines in light of new data presented at the Congress on fat intake and cardiovascular risk and mortality....