TCTMD’s Top 10 Most Popular Stories for August 2022

Hot Line clinical trials from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2022—including REVIVED-BCIS2, DELIVER, PANTHER, INVICTUS, and data on oral factor XIa inhibitors—were among our most-read stories of August 2022. Also making the list were our COVID-19 Dispatch, dispiriting heart failure trends, new US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) statin advice, and more.

1. ESC 2022 PCI No Better Than GDMT in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy: REVIVED-BCIS2

PCI should not be undertaken to treat and improve left ventricular dysfunction, says Divaka Perera.

2. HF Deaths on the Rise in Young Adults, US Data Show

Black patients were found to be at greatest risk, with healthcare access and structural racism at the forefront of the disparity.

3. COVID-19 TCTMD’s Dispatch

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

4. ESC 2022 DELIVER Results, Other Analyses Bolster SGLT2 Inhibitors Across HF Spectrum

These drugs improve outcomes and make patients feel better, Mariell Jessup says. “I think that’s a really important story.”

5. COVID-19 After COVID-19, Unvaccinated at Risk for Long-term CVD Complications

Clinicians should stay watchful for MI, myocarditis, and HF even out to 1 year later in people who never got vaccinated.

6. Antibiotics Before Invasive Dental Work Helpful in High-Risk Patients

“These patients are shared between cardiologists and [their] dentists, so both parties need to play a role,” a researcher says.

7. ESC 2022 P2Y12 Inhibitors Top Aspirin for Long-term Secondary Prevention: PANTHER

The findings, from a patient-level meta-analysis, reflect the monotherapy already used today, ACC President Edward Fry says.

8. New USPSTF Statin Guidance: Familiar Advice, Some Holes to Fill

Though some see omissions, there are no great surprises in the task force’s advice, intended for a primary care audience.

9. ESC 2022 INVICTUS: More Deaths, Stroke With Rivaroxaban in Rheumatic Heart Disease AF

Investigators were “floored by the results,” and can’t understand why the DOAC was linked with higher mortality.

10. ESC 2022 Factor XIa Inhibitors Show Potential for Safer Anticoagulation After MI, Stroke

There’s “intense interest” in finding out if factor XI/XIa inhibitors can cut CV events without increasing bleeding.

Find all of our coverage of ESC 2022 on our conference page including Beyond the Data interviews led by TCTMD Senior Clinical Editor Mamas Mamas, BMBCh, DPhil (Keele University/Royal Stoke University Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, England), with the lead investigators from REVIVED and DELIVER. Our top feature article for August looks at the fast pace of innovation targeting atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: Novel Targets, Gene Edits, and Vaccines: Is a ‘Golden Era’ Dawning for ASCVD?