Herzspezialisten

27/02/2026

Lipoprotein(a)-lowering therapies: a promising future. A state-of-the-Art review in
👉 ow.ly/V6Rm50YlK3J

25/02/2026

Smartwatches can diagnose asymptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) noninvasively; a new study compared smartwatch screening with routine care.

"If you look for AF, you’ll find it. But the clinical usefulness of detecting short, asymptomatic episodes of AF is unclear," writes Associate Editor Mark S. Link, MD.

17/02/2026

🫀⚖️ High-risk coronary plaques: intervene early—or hold the line?

This 2026 EuroIntervention Viewpoint by Mintz & Collet delivers a sober, evidence-driven answer to one of interventional cardiology’s most debated questions: should we prophylactically stent “high-risk” plaques, or manage them medically and wait?

🔍 What defines a high-risk plaque?
Across invasive and non-invasive imaging, features such as large plaque burden, small MLA, thin-cap fibroatheroma, large lipid core, low-attenuation plaque, positive remodelling, napkin-ring sign, and spotty calcification consistently associate with future events. Lesions with multiple features are riskier—but here’s the catch 👇

📉 Absolute risk is low
Despite ominous imaging, annual hard event rates (death/MI) are ~1%, and most plaque ruptures are clinically silent, contributing to progression rather than ACS. This reframes the entire preventive-PCI debate.

🧪 What do randomized trials show?
PROSPECT ABSORB and PREVENT tested preventive PCI vs optimal medical therapy (OMT).
PCI improved lumen dimensions and reduced future revascularizations, but did not reduce death or MI at 2, 4, or 7 years.
In PREVENT, 739 PCIs prevented only 20–36 later PCIs—a poor trade-off.
Meta-analysis confirms: benefits are driven by fewer procedures, not fewer hard events.

⏳ What happens if we wait?
Long-term follow-up (PROSPECT II, PREVENT) shows very low event rates with OMT and delayed PCI when symptoms arise, avoiding most upfront interventions without penalty.

🧠 Where the field is heading
The authors advocate a “hold-the-line” strategy:
Detecting high-risk plaque should trigger intensified medical therapy and surveillance, not automatic PCI.
Future precision may come from integrating imaging + physiology + inflammation, to identify the rare plaques whose rupture truly matters.

🔮 Bottom line
Until we can predict **which plaques will cause death or MI—not just progression—**the data favor medical therapy first, PCI later if needed.
Seeing risk ≠ fixing it with a stent 🚀

12/02/2026

25/01/2026

In patients with atrial fibrillation after successful ablation, rivaroxaban therapy did not lead to a significantly lower incidence of a composite of stroke, systemic embolism, or new covert embolic stroke than aspirin therapy. Full OCEAN trial results and Research Summary: nej.md/3LsRJ86

25/01/2026

💬 Editorial: Stroke risk classification that relies solely on carotid stenosis severity overlooks patients with nonobstructive but high-risk carotid plaques, underestimating the true contribution of carotid disease to ischemic stroke.

Recent European Society of Cardiology guidelines and Carotid Plaque–RADS offer improved risk stratification by accounting for plaque features, with evidence showing significant gains in predictive accuracy.

https://ja.ma/4sVWkRs

21/01/2026

This new study by Palmerini et al, showed that an elevated residual mean transprosthetic gradient early after independently predicts long-term structural valve deterioration and is associated with increased 10-year all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

https://eurointervention.pcronline.com/article/predictors-of-long-term-structural-valve-deterioration-and-failure-after-transcatheter-aortic-valve-implantation

20/01/2026

C-reactive protein and cardiovascular risk among women with no standard modifiable risk factors: evaluating the ‘SMuRF-less but inflamed’

Even women with no traditional cardiovascular risk factors aren’t always low risk. High hs-CRP identifies a “SMuRF-less but inflamed” group with significantly higher CV events. Read more in
https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article-abstract/47/3/306/8242429?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false

05/01/2026

Für manche gehört es zu den Zielen für 2026, zumindest einmal 42,195 km zu laufen. Doch wie belastend ist das für das Herz? Umfassende Daten schätzen das Risiko neu ein: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000302309/studie-klaert-offene-frage-ob-marathons-laengerfristig-das-herz-schaedigen

02/01/2026

ICYMI: 2025 ACC/AHA/Multisociety on highlights practice-changing recommendations for caring for a diverse ACHD population.

Among the highlights, the guideline emphasizes the importance of access to routine care at ACHD centers and in collaboration with ACHD cardiologists, providing recommendations about when specialized expertise is warranted and how specialists can partner with other clinicians to broaden access to care.

Get the details here ➡️ https://bit.ly/48Z2Mht JACC Journals

31/12/2025

Can cuffless blood pressure (BP) measuring devices change cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment?

Potentially, but research has yet to prove these wearable devices as accurate or reliable enough to do so, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. The scientific statement was published recently in Hypertension. http://ms.spr.ly/6186tsLoM

21/12/2025

🫀 Transcatheter aortic valve implantation in bicuspid aortic valves: present and future

Younger patients, complex anatomy, higher PVL and stroke risk — results still lag behind surgery.
🔗https://secce.es/en/transcatheter-aortic-valve-implantation-in-bicuspid-aortic-valves-present-and-future/