Jason See Cardiology

12/06/2025

Coronary artery plaque is the buildup of deposits that may include cholesterol and calcium on the inner walls of the arteries of the heart.

This JAMA Patient Page describes how a cardiac CT calcium score can evaluate the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and guide statin therapy decisions.

https://ja.ma/4mXLiZ5

18/04/2025

More evidence to support the importance of weight management.

Overweight/obesity needs to be seen as a chronic disease and not just a lifestyle choice. Insurance and payors need to understand or risk further reimbursements down the road for established cardiovascular disease or risk factors.

Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight before pregnancy may be instrumental in promoting maternal health and reducing future heart disease risk, according to findings from an observational study published in .

Read more: https://bit.ly/4jfhhBO

JACC Journals - Journals of the American College of Cardiology

03/04/2025

There has been conflicting data surrounding the use of statins and dementia protection/risks.

This study adds to the body of evidence showing that low cholesterol levels are associated with a reduced risk of dementia. And statin therapy provides additional protective effects. 👍🏻 👍🏻

Background The link between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and dementia risk is poorly understood, with conflicting evidence on the role of LDL-C and the impact of statin therapy on cognitive outcomes. Thus, we aimed to examine the association between low-density LDL-C levels and...

31/03/2025

It is not uncommon to encounter patients with ‘ischemia’ but without significant ‘blockages’. This is especially more common in women and this study demonstrates that intensive therapy did not do better than usual care. Totally agree with having a personalized, symptom-driven and imaging-guided approach in such patients.

Elizabeth H. Dineen, DO, FACC; Carlos Andrés Dohse

31/03/2025

Iron deficiency. Something to be aware of especially when addressing seemingly non-specific symptoms.

“Individuals with nonanemic iron deficiency or iron-deficiency anemia may be asymptomatic or experience fatigue, irritability, depression, difficulty concentrating, restless legs syndrome (32%-40%), pica (40%-50%), dyspnea, lightheadedness, exercise intolerance, and worsening heart failure (HF).”

This narrative review examines the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of adults with absolute iron deficiency without anemia and iron-deficiency anemia.

09/03/2025

Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) Scoring - Too early, Too late, Too often

Do note below scenarios only refer to performing CAC alone and without an angiography component

Too early - I’ve seen many patients getting calcium scores at ages less than 40 years old 😅. In general, performing CAC at less than 40 years old often leads to unactionable and falsely reassuring results.

Too late - performing CAC at an advanced age beyond 80 years old (or personally my cutoff is around 70 years old) is often impractical as most of such patients already qualify for statins

Too often - why repeat CAC annually and receive unnecessary radiation? ☢️ Calcification takes time to develop and repeating CAC too soon is unlikely to guide management. 3-5 years will be a good range. Also, there is no point repeating a CAC if a decision has already been made on statins +/- antiplatelets.

This Special Communication discusses the measurement of coronary artery calcium score in those at intermediate risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, when such testing may be omitted or deferred and when it may provide clinically useful information.

09/03/2025

Calcium scoring - something I incorporate routinely into my daily practice.

Do note however that performing calcium scoring in younger patients might lead to falsely reassuring normal (I.e. zero) scores.

This clinical trial evaluates the efficacy of combining coronary artery calcium scoring with a prevention strategy to limit plaque progression in intermediate-risk patients with a family history of premature coronary artery disease.

21/02/2025

Had a fruitful time spent networking and gaining new insights on leadership and personal growth. Many thanks to the organizers and Fondazione Menarini for the great meeting!! 😄

28/01/2025

Resharing this educational video on Aortic Stenosis in keeping with a recent workshop that I attended on Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation 🙂