Physicians' Academy for Cardiovascular Education
In the CABANA trial, catheter ablation did not result in a reduction of death, disabling stroke, serious bleeding or cardiac arrest in symptomatic AF patients compared to drug therapy.
A wait-and-see strategy with rate-control drugs was non-inferior to early pharmacologic or electric conversion in achieving sinus rhythm among patients with recent-onset symptomatic AF.
ACC 2019 Dr. John Alexander summarizes the main findings of the AUGUSTUS trial, in which apixaban yielded better results than warfarin, and those not on aspirin did better than those taking aspirin, in patients with AF and a recent ACS/PCI.
ACC 2019 The AUGUSTUS trial showed less bleeding and fewer hospitalizations without differences in ischemic events with apixaban and no aspirin, as compared with regimens with VKA, aspirin or both.
ACC 2019 Dr. Valentine chaired the press conference on the Apple Heart Study. He summarizes the results and the response to the AF-screening results obtained with Apple Watch.
ACC 2019 The Apple Heart Study in over 400.000 people, showed that Apple Watch could detect AF in 0.5% of participants, after having been alerted by the app as having an irregular heartbeat.
In an exploratory analysis of insurance data, DOAC use reduced stroke or systemic embolism in patients with mitral stenosis and AF compared to warfarin.
An Asian cohort of adults with non-valvular AF and low or very low body weight (<60/50 kg), showed better effectiveness and safety with regular and reduced DOAC dose, compared with warfarin.
Both observational and mendelian randomization analyses suggest that fat-free mass and fat mass are both causally associated with incident AF. The link between fat mass and AF was stronger in women.
In the ORBIT-AF multicenter cohort study, AF patients with cognitive impairment or frailty showed higher stroke risk and mortality, but OACs were underprescribed. The conditions did not affect OAC treatment effect.
A mendelian randomization study and a phenome-wide association study suggest that genetically determined variation in thyroid function is a risk factor for AF, even within the physiological range.
A post-hoc analysis of ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 showed comparable efficacy, favorable safety, and better net clinical outcomes with edoxaban vs. warfarin in Asians, compared to non-Asians.