The Best of AHA 2014

The American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions feature thousands of presentations, posters and discussions, all of which advance knowledge about
treatments, techniques and technologies or contribute to improved understanding of the mechanisms of cardiovascular disease.

While all have value, certain topics are potential game changers. Steven Nissen, MD, Chairman of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, named the top five presentations most likely to influence physician practice:

1. IMPROVE-IT showed that a nonstatin can provide incremental LDL-lowering benefit.
2. DAPT found that increasing the duration of dual antiplatelet therapy lowered the rates of stent thrombosis and ischemic events, but increased the risk of serious bleeding.
3. How well HDL removes cholesterol from the blood may be more important than the amount of HDL in the blood.
4. Daily low-dose aspirin does not protect against cardiovascular events in patients with risk factors and significantly increases the risk of serious hemorrhage.
5. FACTOR-64 found that screening asymptomatic diabetics with coronary CT and stenting moderate-to-severe lesions does not improve outcomes.

The biggest surprise, says Dr. Nissen, was the positive outcome from IMPROVE-IT.

“Most observers thought this trial would fail, because it studied patients with such low LDL levels. It really shows that for very high-risk patients, exceedingly low LDL levels produce meaningful benefits.”