Articles in 2019

The Apple Heart Study demonstrates that the Apple Watch can detect atrial fibrillation inferred from the smartwatch heart-rate sensor with a high positive predictive value. However, we must now contend with many clinically relevant unknowns that were not addressed by the study, such as the ramifications of a false-positive result.

Levels of non-HDL cholesterol in the blood are strongly linked with long-term risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a new risk evaluation study that followed-up almost 400,000 individuals without cardiovascular disease at baseline for a median of 13.5 years.

Deficiency in the orphan G protein-coupled receptor 146 (GPR146) decreases blood lipid levels and protects against atherosclerosis in mice independently of LDL receptor activity, according to a new study.

Stem cell therapy does not promote the regeneration or production of new cardiomyocytes in the injured heart but induces a wound healing response that contributes to improved cardiac function.

In this Consensus Statement, Garg and colleagues describe the current evidence on the use of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging for the assessment of mitral regurgitation, highlight its current clinical utility, and recommend a standardized imaging protocol and report.

Udenafil, a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, improves measures of exercise performance at the ventilatory anaerobic threshold in individuals with Fontan physiology.

In patients with a recent myocardial infarction, anti-inflammatory therapy with low-dose colchicine reduces the risk of ischaemic cardiovascular events compared with placebo.

In two post-hoc analyses of the DAPA-HF trial, the benefits of dapagliflozin were found to be consistent across all age groups and independent of baseline symptom status.

In the RECOVERY trial, asymptomatic patients with very severe aortic stenosis who underwent early surgery had lower risk of cardiovascular death than those treated using a conservative-care strategy.

New analyses of the PARAGON-HF and PARADIGM-HF trials indicate that sacubitril–valsartan treatment might be beneficial in patients with heart failure with mildly reduced left ventricular ejection fraction and that the benefit might be greater in women than in men.

Results of the GALILEO trial presented at the AHA Scientific Sessions 2019 indicate that a strategy with rivaroxaban 10 mg daily is associated with a higher risk of death or thromboembolic events and a higher risk of bleeding than an antiplatelet-based strategy.

Findings from a large, international study comprising 4.9 million people with mild hypertension suggest that thiazide and thiazide-like diuretics might be more effective and safer than other first-line antihypertensive drugs. However, the study was not randomized, and the findings might be explained by a phenomenon known as ‘confounding by indication’.

Metabolomics data can be used to identify biomarkers of all-cause mortality. In this Comment article, Després suggests that these biomarkers can also predict risk of death associated with risk factors that can be reduced through changes in lifestyle habits.

A new study shows that regular physical activity exerts cardiovascular beneficial effects by reducing the proliferation of haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells via modulation of their niche, leading to a reduction in the systemic supply of inflammatory leukocytes.

Platelets have atherogenic effects by inducing monocyte migration and recruitment into atherosclerotic plaques and skewing macrophages to a pro-inflammatory phenotype.

According to data from a national representative US-based database, early mortality was observed in almost 1 in 200 patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing catheter ablation.

A new study identifies the genetic locus encoding the histone deacetylase HDAC9 as a risk locus associated with calcification of the abdominal aorta and reveals that HDAC9 promotes the development of vascular calcification by modulating the phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cells.