AHA: American Heart Association Scientific Sessions

Posters presented at the American Heart Association conference in Chicago, Illinois, evaluated the insights from the VICTORIA trial and their generalizability to patients hospitalized with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

In the ENNOBLE-ATE trial, Michael A. Portman, MD, FAHA, director, Pediatric Cardiovascular Research, Center for Integrative Brain Research, and professor of pediatrics at Seattle Children's, and his team evaluated the safety and efficacy of edoxaban, a direct oral anticoagulant previously only used among adult patients, among pediatric patients with cardiac disease.

Douglas L. Mann, MD, professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and editor-in-chief of JACC: Basic to Translational Science discussed the first set of data reported on NTLA-2001, a novel investigative intravenous agent that targets the TTR gene and TTR protein levels, which have been shown to play a role in development of cardiac transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis.

Research presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions in Chicago, Illinois, found that the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-12 (KCCQ-12) was able to assess patients’ symptoms more accurately for clinicians.

Posters presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions in Chicago, Illinois, found that the neighborhood income and socioeconomic status had an effect on heart failure and all-cause readmission rates.

The American Heart Association (AHA) will hold its annual conference in person in Chicago and online from November 5-7, with sessions on health equity and gene editing receiving particular focus.

Bleeding is a risk with all antiplatelet drugs, whose effects pose a problem when patients need surgery or suffer a traumatic injury. A fast-acting reversal agent would make the drug safer to use.

Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, executive director of interventional cardiovascular programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart & Vascular Center and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, explains the interim findings of the REVERSE-IT trial that were presented at the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions.

A panel Monday at the 2021 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions featured new results for several heart failure (HF) therapeutics, including finerenone and empagliflozin, as well as cost-effectiveness data for vericiguat.

The VICTORIA study found vericiguat to be more cost-effective than placebo when using current societal benchmarks for health care value in the United States. Derek Chew, MD, now an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, conducted economic evaluations for the VICTORIA trial while with the Duke Clinical Research Institute. Results were presented at the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions. Here, he explains why vericiguat is more cost-effective for patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

A wide-ranging discussion sought to bring greater urgency to achieving health equity during the 2021 American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions.

Ian J. Neeland, MD, FACC, FAHA, is co-director of the Center for Integrated and Novel Approaches in Vascular-Metabolic Disease for University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute and director of the UH Center for Cardiovascular Prevention, in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. He summarized a talk he gave at the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions, “Disrupted Sleep in Diabetic Vascular Complications."

At the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions, the lead author of DREAM-HF said evidence of the treatment's benefit among patients with elevated inflammation is positive news, and shows a need for further study.

Despite ample trial evidence that empagliflozin is effective across a broad spectrum of chronic heart failure, some doctors had been reluctant to prescribe in an acute hospital setting for safety reasons. EMPULSE findings presented at the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions address this concern.

Michael Dorsch, PharmD, MS, describes just-in-time adaptive interventions and microrandomized trials in mHealth, which he discussed at the 2021 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

A session at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions covered the data behind concerns about mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 and myocarditis. Then, leaders from Pfizer and Moderna discussed opportunities the technology offers.

Data about prescribing preferences and protective effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists in diabetes were presented on the opening day of the 2021 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, held in a virtual format.

Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc, of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, explains the connections between health care equity and advances in treatment for heart failure and how the United States' policy and science agenda can address them.

Khadijah Breathett, MD, MS, FACC, FAHA, FHFSA, is an assistant professor in the University of Arizona College of Medicine--Tucson, Division of Cardiology. She is presenting a talk at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions, "COVID-19 as a Catalyst to Address Disparities in Cardiovascular Outcomes and Inequities in Cardiovascular Care Delivery.”

Solutions for health equity, treatments for heart failure, and the use of technology in prevention and patient care are just some of the topics on the agenda for the 2021 American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions, which will take place Saturday through Monday in a virtual format.

Seth Martin, MD, MHS, associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University and co-director of the Center for Mobile Technologies to Achieve Equity in Cardiovascular Health (mTECH Center), gives a preview of his presentation on digital divides at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2021.

Tiffany Powell-Wiley, MD, MPH, a Stadtman investigator and chief of the Social Determinants of Obesity and Cardiovascular Risk Laboratory at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, with a joint appointment at the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, discusses ongoing trials and the American Heart Association’s Scientific Statement on social determinants of obesity and cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Anthony Fauci discusses the cardiovascular implications of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

After recent setbacks, the beleaguered drug reduced cardiovascular events and may be a choice for patients with severe chronic kidney disease.

The investigator of the STRENGTH study says findings raise questions about the landmark REDUCE-IT trial, but other evidence suggests the drugs involved are different.

A registry study suggests 4 in 5 patients with heart failure might benefit from the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin.

Findings from the GALACTIC-HF trial presented at AHA Scientific Sessions 2020 showed that patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction who took omecamtiv mecarbil showed a significant 8% relative risk reduction in a composite of a HF event or death from cardiovascular causes, compared with those taking placebo.

The GUARD-AF trial will allow us to look at both the benefits and the risks of screening for atrial fibrillation and the reduction of stroke, said Roland Chen, MD, MS, vice president and head of clinical development for innovative medicines at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

We are really excited about the progress we have seen in the EXPLORER-HCM trial, and after the results are published in the first half of 2020, we will quickly begin conversations to seek FDA approval of mavacamten, said Jay Edelberg, MD, PhD, senior vice president of Clinical Development at MyoKardia.

Results of the PIONEER-OLE study has shown promising results of mavacamten for patients with obstructive HCM that will be further evaluated in our pivotal phase 3 EXPLORER-HCM trial, said Jay Edelberg, MD, PhD, senior vice president of Clinical Development at MyoKardia.