TCTMD’s Top 10 Most Popular Stories for April 2021

After a brief reprieve last month, COVID-19 is dominating our top 10 list once again. Stories exploring rare vaccine-related side effects held the highest rank in April, followed by TCTMD’s Daily Dispatch chronicling pandemic news and research. Nestled among the more-typical topics, including definitions for aortic valve research, anti-inflammatories in CVD, type 2 diabetes, recalls, and the like, is a meta-analysis that confirms COVID-19 patients should continue ACE inhibitors and ARBs. There’s also an exploration of a multidisciplinary, team-based approach for stroke thrombectomy.

1. Blood Clots After COVID-19 Vaccination Linked to Immune Response: UK Report

This is the second NEJM paper to highlight anti-PF4 antibodies as a cause for thrombotic events with the AstraZeneca/Oxford shot.

2. Papers Confirm Rare Thrombocytopenia Link to AstraZeneca Vaccine

A definitive link between the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine and these rare immune-induced events opens the door for tests and treatment.

3. COVID-19: TCTMD’s Daily Dispatch

We’re curating a list of COVID-19 research and other useful content, and updating it daily.

4. New VARC-3 Definitions Provi34de a Road Map for Future Aortic Valve Research 

The definitions were met with criticism from some surgeons who claim the definitions stack the game in TAVI’s favor.

5. Continue ACE Inhibitors/ARBs in COVID-19, New Study Confirms

The meta-analysis shows patients had a lower risk of death and adverse events with RAAS inhibition, particularly hypertensive patients.

6. FDA: Class I Recall for Seven Models of Medtronic ICDs and CRT-Ds

The devices may have battery issues that can lead to full battery depletion within a single day.

7. Should Cardiologists Be Performing Stroke Thrombectomy?

When cardiologists, neurologists, and radiologists teamed up at one center in Prague, it seemed to work. But skepticism remains.

8. Meta-analysis Affirms Colchicine’s Myriad CV Benefits

Still, a confusing rise in non-CV death merits close scrutiny in upcoming trials to inform the risk-benefit balance.

9. Younger Type 2 Diabetes Patients Face Higher Mortality and CVD Risks

Those diagnosed with T2DM at 45 years of age lose roughly 6 years of life compared with healthy men and women the same age, the study shows.

10. Tocilizumab Improves Myocardial Salvage After STEMI: ASSAIL-MI

The anti-inflammatory appears to limit the amount of reperfusion injury after PCI, leading to higher salvage rates.

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As we head into a busy spring and summer, check out our full coverage of the virtual Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) and European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) meetings. There’s also content beyond news, such as our latest Over the Wire blog on conflicts in guideline-writing and an in-depth look at artificial intelligence in cardiology.