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, […]
Surgeries & Interventions February 10, 2025
The Weekend Effect Touches TAVR Too February 10, 2025
It seems even interventional cardiologists aren’t immune to the “Weekend Effect” as a recent study suggests patients admitted on weekends for TAVR procedures face significantly higher risks. To uncover the weekend effect’s impact on TAVR, researchers analyzed over 82k TAVR hospitalizations between 2013 and 2021 and revealed that weekend patients faced a 45% higher risk […]
Imaging February 7, 2025
Cardiology in the Spotlight: Enterprise Imaging That Goes Beyond Radiology February 7, 2025
The future of medical imaging is about connection. Today’s healthcare challenges demand platforms that unify radiology, cardiology, digital pathology, genomics, and beyond into a seamless enterprise ecosystem—moving past the era of standalone systems and isolated workflows. A complete enterprise imaging solution allows us to move closer to an improved multidisciplinary collaboration, and a more comprehensive […]
Cardiology Pharmaceuticals February 6, 2025
PCSK9 Inhibitors: Sooner or Later? February 6, 2025
Sooner certainly seems to be better than later when it comes to treating LDL-C levels with the PCSK9 inhibitor evolocumab, and according to a recent JACC study, that’s especially true for older patients. Putting age before beauty, researchers conducted a prespecified analysis of the FOURIER-OLE study and found that among roughly 6.6k patients, evolocumab reduced […]
Cardiovascular Disease February 3, 2025
Cardiovascular Disease and Deaths On the Rise February 3, 2025
Another year, another AHA report reasserting heart disease’s dominance as the number one killer in the United States, and the latest data shows that this trend is still gaining momentum. Four years after that goal’s due date, the burden of CVD in the U.S. is at an all time high, with 942k cardiovascular disease-related deaths […]
Structural Heart January 30, 2025
Why Mechanical AVR Valves Still Matter January 30, 2025
A presentation at this year’s Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) conference suggests mechanical valves might lead to better survival compared to bioprosthetic valves in patients aged 60 or younger undergoing SAVR even though it seems like they’re going out of style. Researchers examined STS registry data on ~109k patients ages 40 to 75 years who […]
Pharmaceuticals January 27, 2025
Abelacimab Stops Bleeding, But Stroke Impact Uncertain January 27, 2025
Anthos Therapeutics published the full results of its Phase 2 AZALEA-TIMI 71 trial for its novel Factor XI inhibitor, abelacimab, confirming the drug’s lower bleeding risks, but leaving researchers uncertain about its ability to prevent stroke in AFib patients. To see if abelacimab was a safer alternative, researchers randomized 1,287 AFib patients at risk of […]
