What’s Going to Be Hot at ACC 2025?

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) 2025 Scientific Session is soon set to return to the Windy City on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Beginning Saturday, March 29, 2025, Chicago, IL, will host the annual meeting that will showcase more than 200 live sessions involving roughly 1,300 faculty members. Meeting Chair Kathryn Berlacher, MD (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, PA), said this year’s event will include sessions devoted to 10 clinical pathways, including some newer areas such as cardiac critical care and cardio-obstetrics.

“There were over 9,000 abstract submissions this year, which is outstanding: an increase of almost 20% from prior years,” said Berlacher during a media briefing. One in five of those submissions came from outside the United States, she added.

In addition to the usual science, Berlacher emphasized that interactive learning is a key component of ACC 2025, noting there will be 36 special-format sessions, including fireside chats, town hall discussions, and even game shows, such as cardiology-based versions of Family Feud and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Returning is the popular Fellows-in-Training Jeopardy Competition and Stump the Professor, as well as interactive critical-care cardiology sessions. There are 14 hands-on simulation stations plus an “Escape Room” challenge focused on team-based cardiogenic shock management.

“We hope that everybody checks those out,” said Berlacher. “We hope that [people] are excited about some of the newer education we’re bringing to this meeting, in addition to the science.”

WARRIOR, STRIDE, SOUL, and More

The Opening Showcase kicks off Saturday at 8:30 AM CST with the presidential address from Cathleen Biga, MSN, RN (Cardiovascular Management of Illinois, Woodridge). This is followed by the first of six sessions dedicated to late-breaking clinical trials (LBCTs). For the late-breaking science, there were 162 submissions, with ACC planners accepting a record 53 for presentation. Outside the LBCTs, there are five featured clinical research sessions and two focused on clinical and investigative horizons.

Vice Chair Julie Damp, MD (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN), said the new science “is the heart of any ACC scientific session and ACC.25 will be no different in that regard.”

In the opening LBCT session at 9:30 AM CST, the first trial up is WARRIOR, a study investigating intensive medical therapy with high-intensity statins and ACE inhibitors/ARBs versus usual care in more than 4,400 women with angina and/or ischemia but no obstructive coronary artery disease (INOCA).

For physicians who care for women with INOCA, these results are highly anticipated, said Berlacher. “We hope to have a lot of guidance as to what we should be doing with these patients based on evidence rather than based on our gut,” she said. “This is truly going to be one of the top trials.”

WARRIOR is followed by STRIDE, which is investigating the effects of semaglutide (Wegovy; Novo Nordisk) on functional capacity in people with type 2 diabetes and peripheral artery disease. API-CAT, which is testing reduced- versus full-dose apixaban (Eliquis; Bristol Myers Squibb/Pfizer) in cancer patients with venous thromboembolism, wraps up the first LBCT session.

LBCT 2 takes place at 11:30 AM CST with four trials focused on antithrombotic therapy: FARES-II testing a four-factor prothrombin complex in cardiac surgery; REVERSE-IT with bentracimab (PhaseBio), a recombinant human monoclonal antibody fragment that reverses ticagrelor, in patients with uncontrolled bleeding or requiring urgent surgery or invasive procedures; RIVAWAR looking at rivaroxaban (Xarelto; Janssen/Bayer) versus warfarin in patients with LV thrombus after MI; and a comparison of dual antiplatelet therapy duration after coronary stenting in patients at low or high risk of bleeding.

Four trials will be presented during LBCT 3 at 1:30 PM CST, including SOUL. The company has already announced positive top-line results indicating that oral semaglutide reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and/or chronic kidney disease.

“[SOUL] is really going to be an important look at a set of clinical characteristics that describe a lot of patients that we take care of every day,” said Damp. “[It’ll] help us understand an oral medication that can impact their rate of cardiovascular events and how we can help improve their outcomes. It’s an important set of information.”

Other trials in the session include ADVANCE-HTN, a study testing lorundrostat (Mineralys Therapeutics), a novel aldosterone synthase inhibitor, in patients with uncontrolled hypertension and DapaTAVI, which is investigating dapagliflozin (Farxiga; AstraZeneca) in patients treated with a transcatheter heart valve. 

On Sunday, March 30, there are three more LBCT sessions and three featured research sessions. In LBCT 4, at 8 AM CST, the MIGHTy-Heart investigators will present results of their comparison of two strategies designed to improve the transition to home after a heart failure (HF) hospitalization. For FRESH-UP, researchers compared liberal fluid intake with a more restrictive approach in chronic HF patients in the outpatient setting, while the FAIR-HF2 study looked into the role of intravenous iron in HF patients with iron deficiency.  

In LBCT 5, at 10 AM CST, the highly anticipated results of the British Heart Foundation’s PROTECT-TAVI study will help shed further light on the need for embolic protection in TAVI. The ALIGN-AR trial will provide more clinical and echocardiographic data on a dedicated transcatheter aortic valve for patients with aortic regurgitation. Additionally, 5-year outcomes from the Evolut Low Risk trial will give some inkling on the durability of TAVI in this patient population. Finally, the FLAVOUR II trial will compare angiography-derived fractional flow reserve (FFR) versus IVUS for PCI.  

During LBCT 6, at 11:30 AM CST, investigators will present 2-year outcomes on tricuspid transcatheter edge-to-edge repair in TRILUMINATE and 5-year results from FAME 3 comparing FFR-guided PCI versus CABG surgery in patients with multivessel disease. Additionally, investigators will present data on clopidogrel versus aspirin for maintenance therapy after PCI in patients at high ischemic risk.

For those wanting a closer look at the LBCTs, there will be two “deep dive” sessions on Monday, March 31 (11 AM and 2:30 PM CST) with the researchers and expert panels.

Lp(a), Shock, and Cardiac Arrest

For the featured research sessions, there are studies looking into the effectiveness of the small interfering RNA lepodisiran (Eli Lilly) targeting lipoprotein(a), autologous cell therapy in patients with HF, early use of an intra-aortic balloon pump in HF patients complicated by cardiogenic shock (Altshock-2), and use of intravascular imaging to guide PCI of severely calcified lesions (ECLIPSE). On Monday, March 31, researchers will present data from a biomarker analysis of the EARLY TAVR trial.

There are also presentations dedicated to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in athletes, including RACER looking at how often it occurred during long-distance running events over a 13-year period.

“There’s over 29 million who do long-distance races across the world,” said Berlacher. “Understanding the risks of a cardiac arrest is helpful not only for us who care for those patients but to guide people who plan those events.”

There are 13 sessions devoted to clinical guidelines, with a special focus on those that emerged this past year, such as new or updated guidelines for acute coronary syndromes, peripheral arterial disease, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Research using or discussions about artificial intelligence (AI) are also woven throughout the meeting. There will be an intensive two-part education session on AI that will include a keynote lecture by John Rumsfeld, MD, PhD (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora), on Saturday, March 29, at 11:30 AM CST. His talk will focus on the basics of augmented intelligence for practicing physicians. A second deep-dive session will highlight some of the practical considerations for implementing AI into practice. 

On Sunday, Victor Dzau, MD (Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC), the president of the National Academy of Medicine, delivers the Eugene Braunwald Keynote entitled “Science, Medicine, and Society: A Brave New World.” There are several other keynote lectures planned, as well, with one by Larry Allen, MD (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus), speaking on the use of AI and technology for implementing science and reducing health disparities.

You can keep up with all of our ACC 2025 coverage throughout the meeting here, on our conference page. I’ll be onsite along with reporters Caitlin Cox, Yael Maxwell, and Laura McKeown—don’t be afraid to say hello.