TCTMD’s Top 10 Most Popular Stories for April 2024

All but one of TCTMD’s top 10 stories this month stemmed from the American College of Cardiology 2024 Scientific Session, and most—but not all—of those were late-breaking clinical trials. While REDUCE-AMI, DanGer Shock, and RELIEVE-HF may already be on the radar of cardiologists, our list this month includes an analysis helping to tease out the disease-modifying benefits (beyond weight loss) of semaglutide, a lower-profile oral device for reducing blood pressure in sleep apnea, and a fresh spotlight on the heart failure risks that follow an atrial fibrillation diagnosis.

1. ACC Another Beta-blocker Blow: REDUCE-AMI Confirms No Benefit After Acute MI

The latest study to undermine the role of these long-standing agents suggests their use harkens back to a bygone era—having randomized data should help strengthen the guidelines, experts say.

2. ACC Long-Awaited RCT Data Show Survival Benefit With Impella CP: DanGer Shock

The results, specific to STEMI patients with cardiogenic shock, are striking, experts say, but much work lies ahead. Whether the new data enough to sway sceptics on the risk/benefit balance remains to be seen.

3. ACC STEP-HFpEF DM Trial Hints at Semaglutide HF Effects Beyond Pounds Shed

The findings, based on an analysis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) patients with and without type 2 diabetes, suggest semaglutide might offer disease-modifying benefits independent of weight loss, says Mikhail Kosiborod.

4. ACC ADHD Meds Linked to Cardiomyopathy in Young Adults

The absolute risk is small, but the seriousness of the possible consequences should be acknowledged, say researchers, who add that these findings apply even to patients without a known personal or family history of CVD.

5. New Heart Failure After AF Diagnosis Merits More Attention

Prevention of stroke gets highlighted by guidelines and is typically top of mind, but heart failure is much more common and should be part of the discussions between physicians and patients, a new analysis argues.

6. ACC Interatrial Shunt Falls Short in Sham-Controlled RELIEVE-HF

Benefit was seen, however, in the heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) subset, hinting at a group to look at further, whereas HFpEF patients fared poorly. What happens next for this busy field remains unclear.

7. ACC PREVENT Supports Early PCI for Vulnerable Plaque, With Reductions in MACE

The study, initially designed to use a bioresorbable stent, may raise more questions than it answers, particularly around the idea of what constitutes “vulnerable” and how best that trait can be assessed and placated.

8. ACC ULTIMATE-DAPT: Another Boost for Solo Ticagrelor 1 Month After ACS PCI

The time to change both practice and guidelines has come, argues Gregg Stone, pointing to dozens of trial supporting a less-is-more approach.

9. ACC Oral Device Noninferior to CPAP for Reducing BP in Sleep Apnea: CRESCENT

For patients with hypertension who can’t—or won’t—use CPAP, the new findings point toward a tantalizing alternative, although outcomes data will take larger trials.

10. ACC Early Empagliflozin Doesn’t Curb HF Hospitalizations, Deaths Post-MI: EMPACT-MI

Neutral findings for another SGLT2 inhibitor, after the “soft” success of dapagliflozin in the DAPA-MI trial, are a rare disappointment for this class. But investigators say the primary results don’t tell the whole story.

*   *   *

May is the busiest meeting month of the year for TCTMD. Subscribe to our newsletter via your TCTMD profile page, or follow us on X, Instagram, or Facebook to get breaking news from SCAI, the ESC HF Congress, EuroPCR, HRS, ESOC, and more.