Cardiology Pharmaceuticals April 14, 2025
At Home Nasal Sprays and PSVT ER Visits April 14, 2025
Data analysis from the NODE-301 Phase 3 trial suggests that patients self-adminstering Milestone Pharmaceuticals’ etripamil (CARDAMYST) might be able to avoid ER visits for paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT). Sniffing around for proof of etripamil’s effectiveness, researchers analyzed data from parts 1 and 2 of the NODE-301 trial and found that patients who self-administered the drug […]
Cardiology Practices April 10, 2025
Does Value Based Care Improve Cardiology? April 10, 2025
Casting doubt on value based cardiac care, a JAMA study found that outpatient cardiology practices enrolled in an accountable care organization (ACO) through the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) don’t offer better care than non-ACO practices. Evaluating the ACO incentives, researchers compared care quality data from the ACC’s NCDR PINNACLE Registry before and 6-12 months […]
Atrial Fibrillation April 7, 2025
PFA or Cryoballoon for Paroxysmal AFib? April 7, 2025
Expanding the potential patient population for pulsed field ablation, results from the SINGLE SHOT CHAMPION study suggest PFA might be just as good as cryoballoon ablation for patients with paroxysmal AFib. In one of the first PFA versus cryoballoon head-to-heads, researchers randomized 210 patients with symptomatic paroxysmal AFib to undergo PFA with Boston Scientific’s Farapulse […]
Cardiology April 3, 2025
The Top Trends of ACC.25 April 3, 2025
The ACC 2025 meeting is all wrapped up after matching the attendance and excitement of last year’s expo, with a clear trend toward better diagnostics and even better pharmaceuticals. Among dozens of highlights, here are Cardiac Wire’s seven biggest trends from ACC.25. The Takeaway From software and hardware innovations in the exhibit hall to strong […]
Surgeries & Interventions March 31, 2025
Abbott Enters Burgeoning IVL Segment March 31, 2025
Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) may have once been synonymous with Shockwave Medical, but it’s now rapidly becoming one of the hottest segments in interventional cardiology, spurred on by Abbott’s new IVL Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) from the FDA. Abbott’s new IVL IDE was two years in the making following its $890M acquisition of Cardiovascular Systems in 2023 […]
Cardiology Pharmaceuticals March 27, 2025
Ezetimibe Plus Statins Equals Better Outcomes March 27, 2025
New results from a vast Mayo Clinic meta-analysis suggest that combining ezetimibe with statins to lower LDL-C could have significant mortality and MACE benefits over statin monotherapy. Digging through decades of data from PubMed, Embase, and ClinicalTrials.gov, researchers pooled all relevant articles published through June 2024 (108k patients) and found that a combination lipid-lowering therapy […]
Cardiology Pharmaceuticals March 24, 2025
Amvuttra Arrives for ATTR-CM with a High Asking Price March 24, 2025
It’s not surprising that Alnylam’s Amvuttra (vutrisiran) received FDA approval for ATTR-CM last week, but what shocked many was Alnylam’s choice to price the drug at nearly half a million dollars per year in a segment where its incumbent competitors cost half as much. Alnylam claims Amvuttra’s eyewatering price stems from the drug’s “compelling and […]
Structural Heart March 20, 2025
Amulet’s Slight Edge over Watchman 2.5 for LAAO March 20, 2025
Although there’s still ongoing debate on who should receive LAAO devices, new five year results from the Amulet IDE trial confirm that both Abbott’s Amulet occluder and Boston Scientific’s Watchman 2.5 are safe and effective in the long run. Amulet IDE set Abbott’s contender against Boston Scientific’s Watchman 2.5 (its three generation old model), randomizing […]
Cardiology Pharmaceuticals March 17, 2025
Reconsidering LAAO Postprocedural Management March 17, 2025
Real-world data from the EMERGE LAA postapproval study suggests it might be time to rethink the discharge medications prescribed to patients after LAAO. Diving deeper into data from Abbott’s 11.5k patient EMERGE LAA postapproval study, researchers compared the adverse events and six month outcomes of single antiplatelet therapy (5.3% of patients), DAPT (81.7%), and oral […]
Surgeries & Interventions March 13, 2025
CABG Better than PCI for T2D Patients March 13, 2025
One of the biggest risk factors for patients who need coronary revascularization is diabetes, and a new study in JAMA suggests CABG could be a better option than FFR-guided PCI when it comes to long term outcomes for these patients. For a more nuanced head-to-head, researchers examined data from the FAME 3 trial for 428 […]
Surgeries & Interventions March 10, 2025
TAVR Long Term Outcomes Trump Surgery March 10, 2025
A new JACC study highlighted the long term benefits of TAVR using the Evolut valve (Medtronic) compared to surgical AVR when it comes to avoiding bioprosthetic valve dysfunction (BVD). Pitting data from the two techniques head-to-head, researchers examined 5.6k patients from the US High Risk Pivotal and SURTAVI randomized controlled trials, finding that TAVR patients […]
Cardiology Policy March 6, 2025
ABMS Rejects Independent CV Board, Doesn’t Explain Why March 6, 2025
In a move that could mark a serious setback for independent cardiology certification, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) denied the joint ACC/AHA/HRS/SCAI/HFSA request to launch a new American Board of Cardiovascular Medicine. Pushing for independence since 2023, the new American Board of Cardiovascular Medicine would have been completely independent of the ABIM and […]
Cardiology Pharmaceuticals March 3, 2025
Better Understanding Finerenone’s HF Impact March 3, 2025
Finerenone (Bayer’s Kerendia) seems to be the gift that keeps on giving, and we can now add the ability to reduce worsening HF events in patients on diuresis to its growing list of benefits thanks to a new JAMA substudy of the FINEARTS-HF trial. Diving deeper into the data from the FINEARTS-HF trial, researchers found […]
Structural Heart February 27, 2025
There’s No Clear King of TAVR Valves February 27, 2025
Cardiologists have a wide selection of TAVR valves to choose from, and a new study pitting the top three second generation devices against each other suggests there’s not much difference in the long run. In a search for the king of TAVR valves, researchers compared seven year outcomes of Edward’s Sapien 3, Medtronic’s Evolut R/PRO, […]
Heart Failure February 24, 2025
Shifting Perceptions of Hyperkalemia in Care of Patients with Heart Failure February 24, 2025
By Ravi Dhingra, MD, MPH, FACC, FAHASponsored By AstraZeneca Despite improving outcomes in patients with heart failure[1], renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitor (RAASi) therapy is underutilized due to hyperkalemia (HK), often to the detriment of patients.[2] An observational study[2] utilizing Optum’s de-identified Market Clarity Data from July 2019 to September 2021, evaluated the risk of progression to […]
Cardiology Pharmaceuticals February 24, 2025
The Coming ATTR-CM Competition February 24, 2025
Competition breeds innovation, and that’s good news for ATTR-CM patients who could have three different drugs to choose from: Vyndaqel (Pfizer), Attruby/Beyonttra (BridgeBio), and Amvuttra (Alnylam). The reigning ATTR-CM drug is Pfizer’s Vyndaqel (tafamidis), which entered the scene unchallenged in 2019, and although it was first, new research has suggested it might not be the […]
Heart Failure February 20, 2025
ALT-FLOW and the HF Shunt Alternative February 20, 2025
Although heart failure prognosis is grim, the ALT-FLOW trial’s two year results suggest that diverting blood from the left atrium to the coronary sinus using a shunt could have lasting benefits for patients with HFmrEF/HFpEF. Taking a different approach to HF therapy, researchers gave 95 patients the Edwards APTURE Transcatheter Shunt System and found that […]
Cardiology Business February 18, 2025
Atria’s Independent Cardiology Play February 18, 2025
With 85% of cardiologists now employed by health systems, it may seem like the days of independent cardiology practice are long gone, but Atria Health is looking to reverse this trend with the help of a unique private equity model. This is the niche Atria aims to fill, with their new business model seeking out […]
Cardiology Business February 13, 2025
Novartis Reclaims Anthos, Reenters Factor XI Race February 13, 2025
Just a couple weeks after the full trial results of AZALEA TIMI 71 were released, Novartis agreed to acquire Anthos Therapeutics for $925M upfront and another $2.15B in milestone payments, signaling that the pharma titan may have renewed confidence in abelacimab and the Factor XI inhibition segment. Abelacimab already demonstrated an edge over the incumbents, […]
