Cardiology Month in Review: October 2022

The last weekend of each month, our editorial team compiles a list of our most popular cardiology content from the past month for a month in review recap. The October 2022 cardiology month in review features the top content from HFSA 2022, new data related to antithrombotic therapy in atrial fibrillation, and shining a spotlight on the American Heart Association’s scientific statement on patient-reported outcomes in peripheral artery disease.

HFSA 2022 Highlights

Each year, the Heart Failure Society of America annual scientific meeting serves as a showcase for the latest advances in the world of heart failure. Although the 2021 meeting featured an in-person component, concerns around COVID-19 outbreaks resulted in limited attendance. At the 2022 meeting, which was held in Washington D.C. from October 1-3, 2022, in-person attendance had returned to near prepandemic levels and the data and advances within heart failure management once again took center stage. As part of our coverage, we have chosen to highlight the 3 most popular pieces of content to come from this year’s meeting.

• Data from the AT-HOME HF study presented at HFSA 2022 provide insight into the effects of furosemide injection 8 mg/mL for congestion management among patients with heart failure ahead of the agent's FDA approval on October 10, 2022. Results of the phase 2 pilot study indicate furosemide demonstrated augmented decongestion compared with oral diuretics and was also associated with improved quality of life without the need for hospitalization.
  
  Read More: Furosemide Injection Could Improve Congestion Management in Heart Failure Without Need for Hospitalization
  
  
• At the HFSA 2022 annual scientific meeting, our editorial team sat down with Andrew Sauer, MD, cardiologist at St. Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, for his perspective on the latest in heart failure and part of that conversation centered around his reaction to the latest guideline recommendations in the realm of device therapy.
  
  Read More: Trends in Device Therapy for Heart Failure, with Andrew Sauer, MD
  
  
• With the apparent class effect of SGLT2 inhibitors in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction confirmed with DELIVER results presented at ESC Congress 2022, HFSA 2022 became host to multiple prespecified subanalyses. Among these was an analysis assessing time to clinical benefit, which suggested a time to first nominal statistical significance for the primary endpoint of 13 days, with significance sustained from day 15 and beyond in the trial.
  
  Read More: Dapagliflozin's Benefit in HFpEF Reaches Significance Within 2 Weeks, Study Finds
  

Examining Antithrombotic Therapy in AFib

During the month of October, a multitude of new studies and data were released related to the management of atrial fibrillation (AF), but two garnered the most attention among our audience of cardiology care professionals.

• Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on October 18, a population-based study with a new-user, active comparator design leveraging data from a commercial health insurance database is providing clinicians with new insight into the comparative effectiveness of apixaban and rivaroxaban in people with AF and valvular heart disease. Using 7 years of data from more than 19,000 patients, results indicated use of apixaban was associated with a lower rate of ischemic stroke or systemic embolism and bleeding events compared to use of rivaroxaban.
  
  Read More: Claims Data Compares Safety, Effectiveness of Apixaban vs Rivaroxaban in AFib and Valvular Heart Disease

• Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association on October 26, the analysis of the Michigan Anticoagulation Quality Improvement Initiative was aimed at comparing how real-world anticoagulation therapy compared with recommendations made within guidelines from the American College of Chest Physicians. In their analysis, investigators found the majority of patients receiving anticoagulation therapy following provoked VTE received anticoagulant therapies beyond 120 days, with warfarin users having a median length of treatment of 142 days and DOAC users having a mean length of treatment of 180 days.
  
  Read More: Most Post-VTE Anticoagulant Regimens Exceed Guideline-Recommended Duration
  
  
  

Spotlighting PAD

Our final two pieces of content in our month in review were published within days of one another and focus on the importance of incorporating patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and PRO measures in the management of peripheral artery disease (PAD).

• Published on October 13, this scientific statement from the American Heart Association highlights the current role of patient-reported outcome measures in the management of peripheral artery disease as well as future considerations for optimizing this role and benefits in care. Authored by a team of 8 on behalf of the AHA Council on Peripheral Vascular Disease and Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health, the scientific statement shines a spotlight on how a person’s experience of symptoms can lead to improved management of PAD and places a special emphasis on the role and incorporation of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in care of PAD.
  
  Read More: American Heart Association Calls Attention to Role of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Peripheral Artery Disease
  
  
• Just days after the release of the AHA’s scientific statement, our editorial team was on-site at Physicians’ Education Resource’s 6th Annual Cardo-Endo-Renal Collaborative. During our time at the meeting, we sat down with Aruna Pradhan, MD, MPH, of Harvard Medical School and VA Boston Health Care System, who presented at the meeting on the topic of social determinants of health in PAD, to learn her perspective on the AHA’s statement and the evolving role of PROs in cardiology.
  
  Read More: The Evolution of Patient-Centric Care in PAD, with Aruna Pradhan, MD, MPH