Tag Archives: American Heart Association

European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines recommend low-density lipoprotein (LDL) below 1.4 mmol/L in patients post ACS, which differs from UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline recommendations of 1.8 mmol/L and 1.4 mmol/L in very-high-risk patients only.6,7 The fifth European survey of Cardiovascular Disease prevention and Diabetes (EUROASPIRE V) survey showed that only 30% of post-ACS patients had low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels <1.8 mmol/L one year after discharge.8 The ACS EuroPath survey showed a considerable lack of physicians’ compliance with guidelines in managing lipid low

Researchers analysed data on more than 45,000 patients (30.8% women) hospitalised for a first heart attack between 2002–2016 in Alberta, Canada. They focused on two types of heart attack: ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and the less severe non-STEMI or NSTEMI, the latter being more common. Patients were followed for an average of 6.2 years. Women were older and faced a variety of complications and more risk factors that may have put them at a greater risk for heart failure after a heart attack. Regardless of whether their heart attacks were STEMI or NSTEMI, fewer women were prescribed medications such as beta blockers or

ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48: success for edoxaban in AF The new factor Xa inhibitor, edoxaban (Daiichi-Sankyo), was as effective in preventing strokes and safer than warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 trial. The ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 (Effective AnticoaGulation with Factor XA Next Generation in Atrial Fibrillation – Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction 48) trial included more than 21,000 AF patients from 46 countries who were randomised to edoxaban at one of two doses (60 mg or 30 mg per day) or warfarin. Results (table 1) showed that both edoxaban doses were associated with significantly less major bleeding than

FREEDOM: CABG beats PCI in diabetes patients with multi-vessel disease Coronary artery by-pass graft (CABG) surgery was associated with better outcomes than percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with diabetes with multi-vessel coronary artery disease in the FREEDOM (Future Revascularization Evaluation in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus: Optimal Management of Multi-vessel Disease) trial. Senior FREEDOM investigator, Dr Valentin Fuster (Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA), said the results (table 1) would change practice. He estimated that patients in this study represent about a quarter of patients undergoing PCI. In

Highlights of the American Heart Association 2010 meeting held in November 2010, in Chicago, USA, included a breakthrough for the treatment of resistant hypertension, and another oral anticoagulant that could be used instead of warfarin in atrial fibrillation patients, without the need for monitoring. RAFT: CRT reduces deaths and hospitalisations in mild heart failure Adding cardiac-resynchronisation therapy (CRT) to implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and medication, led to a reduction in deaths and heart failure hospitalistions among patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms of heart failure in the RAFT (Resynchronisation-Defibrilla