Articles related to Cardiology, Interventional

These recommendations “attempt to provide practical guidance for clinicians and patients regarding the use of nonstatin therapies to further reduce ASCVD risk in situations not covered by the guideline until such time as the scientific evidence base expands.”

Questions run across a host of topics, and in September you can challenge yourself in mortality risk, myocardial infarction (MI), insomnia, liver cancer, lipids, and Parkinson’s disease guidelines. Each question is worth 4 points with bonuses for quick response. Speed matters in this quiz. Why not give it a try and see if you can get on the leaderboard of the Smartest Doc?

To assess short-term risk for severe cardiovascular events (excluding myocarditis and pericarditis) after COVID-19 vaccination, adults younger than 75 years hospitalized for PE, acute MI, hemorrhagic stroke, or ischemic stroke (73,325 events) were reviewed in relation to a 1st or 2nd COVID vaccine dose. No association was found between the Pfizer–BioNTech or Moderna vaccine and severe cardiovascular events. The first dose of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine was associated with acute MI and PE in the second week after vaccination. An association with MI in the second week after a single dose of the Janssen vaccine could not be ruled out.

The USPSTF comes to the conclusion that statin use has at least a moderate net benefit for adults aged 40 to 75 who have no prior history of CVD, at least one CVD risk factor, and an estimated 10-year CVD event risk of 10% or greater. There is at least a marginal net benefit from using statins to prevent CVD events and all-cause mortality in adults aged 40 to 75 who have no prior history of CVD, at least one of these risk factors, and an estimated 10-year CVD event risk of 7.5% to less than 10%. Still, is the evidence enough?

This review with case example explores pericarditis and myocarditis and implications on limiting exercise. The authors summarize relevant guidelines and provide their own conclusion and guidance. They offer a helpful algorithm combining the ESC, ACC, and AHA guidelines and suggest an additional element around limiting heart rate during an acute inflammatory episode.

What is the best strategy for preventing stroke in patients with non-valvular AF: anticoagulants or left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO)? The answer depends on the individual patient’s combination of stroke and bleeding risks. In this study, combined risks favored LAAO for higher bleeding risk, but that benefit became less certain at higher stroke risks.