American Heart Association Releases New Guidance for CAD in Type 2 Diabetes

In an effort to help guide clinicians to provide optimal care to patients, the American Heart Association (AHA) has released a new scientific statement that provides an overview of advances in care for patients with both coronary artery disease (CAD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D).

With the need for more aggressive CAD treatment in patients with diabetes compared to those without, the document outlines medications, procedures, and lifestyle modifications to aid in the management of both diseases.

“Recent scientific studies have shown that people with T2D may need more aggressive or different medical and surgical treatments compared to people with CAD who do not have T2D,” said Suzanne Arnold, MD, MHA, chair of the writing group for the scientific statement and associate professor of medicine at the University of Missouri Kansas City, in a statement from the AHA.

Composed by Arnold and AHA’s Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health and Council on Clinical Cardiology, including vice chair Deepak Bhatt, MD, executive director of interventional cardiovascular programs at Brigham and Women's Hospital, the 28-page document is published in Circulation, the AHA’s flagship journal.

The document itself is broken down into different sections and subjects addressing issues in both medical management and strategies following revascularization. Highlights of the document include guidance on blood pressure management, lipid management, antiplatelet therapies, and lifestyle modifications.

For more insight on the AHA's latest scientific statement, which includes specific insights on use of medication classes including PCSK9 inhibitors and SGLT2 inhibitors, HCPLive® caught up with Bhatt for his takeaways and to learn how he thinks the guidance might impact care for patients with stable CAD and T2D.

This scientific statement, “Clinical Management of Stable Coronary Artery Disease in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus,” was published online in Circulation.