Cardiac Wire

It’s not often that a pair of studies completely challenges our assumptions in cardiology, but new data presented at HRS 2026 suggests myocardial infarction might not be the main cause of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Despite how far cardiology has come in treating the heart, annual SCD incidence remains high. This prompted researchers to continuously […] The post The True Cause of Sudden Cardiac D…

The Heart Rhythm Society’s Annual Meeting for 2026 electrified Chicago with talks of the latest EP tech, rhythm management debates, and insights into where remote patient monitoring is headed. Here are Cardiac Wire’s top-six takeaways from electrophysiology’s biggest weekend of the year. HRS Grows Steadily – This year’s HRS attendance numbers hit just over 10k, […] The post Cardiac Wire’s Top Six…

Cardiac troponin assays might be the gold standard for diagnosing a heart attack in the ER, but a new JAMA study suggests the latest generation of tests could significantly reduce false positives and ultimately, health system burden. To address this, researchers compared how the newest sixth generation hs-cTnT assay (which used a 13-ng/L cut off […] The post Better hs-cTnT Assays, Lower Healthcar…

While the verdict is still out on whether or not calcium supplements support bone health, new research in JAHA suggests they’re not good for your heart. Since there’s little known about the effects of calcium supplements on the heart, researchers performed an observational analysis of EHR data from 237k patients in Hong Kong, 16% of […] The post Calcium Supplements May Have CV Risks appeared firs…

We’re finally starting to get some real-world data on treating tricuspid regurgitation with transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) and a new TVT registry study suggests TTVR outcomes are even better than previously thought. The TVT Registry analysis followed the 30 day outcomes of 1,034 patients with symptomatic, severe TR who were treated with Edwards’ EVOQUE […] The post A Look Into R…

Intravascular lithotripsy is becoming a game of giants after Stryker’s announcement that it will acquire Amplitude Vascular Systems (AVS) for an undisclosed amount to add the company’s IVL system to its peripheral vascular portfolio. This acquisition may be unique in its PAD scope, since other IVL acquisitions tend to revolve around CAD or CAD+PAD, but […] The post Stryker Steps into IVL with AVS…

We all know there’s a growing cardiologist shortage, but American cardiovascular care might hit its breaking point, with a Medicus Healthcare Solutions analysis now projecting that the shortage will only get bigger, and will hit rural communities the hardest. To quantify the problem, Medicus examined over 34k U.S. cardiologists (24.9k general, 5.2k interventional, 2.9k electrophysiologists) […] T…

UPMC’s structural heart president, Hemal Gada, MD, might have been terminated for whistleblowing, according to a federal lawsuit that alleges retaliatory firing following his reports of conflicts of interest regarding Edwards Lifesciences and alleged racism within UPMC. The whistleblower retaliation suit details how Dr. Gada originally criticized Edwards’ SAPIEN 3 valve clinical trial data on […]…

ACC.26 saw an overall drop in research fervor, but one long-awaited study, CHAMPION-AF, spurred a new discussion around the field of left atrial appendage closure and the data we’ve used to justify the procedure. - Left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) uses an implantable device (like Boston Scientific’s Watchman) to close off a pocket of tissue on the left atrium of the heart. - This potentially …

Cardiology came back to New Orleans with ACC.26 and amid the magic of “The Big Easy” some more subtle trends emerged, reflecting a maturation of cardiac science and business. Here are Cardiac Wire’s top takeaways from the conference. - A Drop in Late-Breakers: This year only saw 27 late-breakers presented, down from ACC.25’s record-breaking 53, with an even split between procedures (13) and pharm…

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of cardiovascular death throughout the world, and a Lancet commission just released a new statement about what it will take to significantly reduce CAD deaths by 2050. - The commission’s original recommendation was to reclassify coronary disease as atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (ACAD). - Now the field is moving away from a traditional focus o…

We all know by now that too much body fat isn’t good for your heart, and new research suggests that the fat directly around your heart could play a role in your risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). - Fat around the heart is also known as epicardial adipose tissue (EAT). - While studies have looked at overall body fat burden as a clinical risk factor, none have tried to quantify the risk of a fa…

The Imaging Wire The radiology newsletter that makes it easy to stay informed

The Imaging Wire The radiology newsletter that makes it easy to stay informed

Keeping a close eye on women’s reproductive health could give insights into their future cardiovascular risk after a new JAMA study found that women who experience premature menopause face higher lifetime risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). - The average age for menopause for most women is 51, with premature menopause occurring in women under 40. - Current cardiovascular risk assessment doesn’t…

We already know that what you put in your body is directly related to your overall health, including cardiovascular risk, but a new JACC study suggests your ethnic background could impact just how much damage ultraprocessed foods do to your body. - There still isn’t 100% consensus on what an “ultraprocessed” food is, but industrial products like frozen pizza, energy drinks, soda, and cereals tend…

JACC released its inaugural Cardiovascular Statistics 2026 report covering a wide spectrum of major CV risk factors and conditions, and despite the medical advancements in the last ten years, it’s clear we still have a lot of work left to do. - The report covers five risk factors and six conditions that account for most cardiovascular deaths and disability. - It is meant to serve as a comprehensi…

New follow-up data from the RENOVATE-COMPLEX-PCI trial suggests that intravascular imaging continues to provide better clinical outcomes for patients with complex coronary lesions five years after their PCI procedure. - Intravascular imaging (IVI) refers to catheter-based invasive technologies used to visualize the inside of coronary arteries in real-time. - The two IVI modalities are intravascul…

Strong results from two separate studies on CVRx’s Barostim baroreflex activation therapy suggest the technology might offer symptomatic relief even though its mortality benefit is still up in the air. - Abnormal baroreflex signaling causes neurohormonal issues that drive heart failure progression, so Barostim is intended to help reverse this while combined with GDMT. - The FDA approved Barostim …

New research presented at THT 2026 suggests that the NT-proBNP biomarker could give us a glimpse into which patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) will benefit the most from transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER). - NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) is a key blood biomarker used to diagnose, rule out, and manage heart failure by measuring cardiac stress. - TEER fo…