We are pleased to share the Winter 2023 issue of the Canadian Cardiac Chronicle newsletter. Highlights from this issue include: Read and subscribe to the newsletter here.
Year: 2023
Current and Future Insights from the VICTORIA Trial
Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), one of the leading causes of heart-related deaths worldwide, occurs when the heart is not able to effectively pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. The VICTORIA trial examined the effects of vericiguat (a novel first in class drug used to reduce the risk of death and […]
Long-Term Safety and Efficacy of Alirocumab in Patients Post-Acute Coronary Syndrome
Although lipid-lowering therapy is frequently used as a long-term (typically lifetime) intervention to reduce cardiovascular risk, research on the efficacy and safety of this treatment strategy is often limited to the relatively short time frame of clinical trials (typically 2-5 years). Alirocumab is an injectable monoclonal antibody directed against proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) that […]
2023 Colloquium: Shaping the Future of Cardiovascular Clinical Research in Canada
On September 29, 2023, the CVC hosted the 10th annual CVC Colloquium. We were pleased to resume hosting this meeting in-person and to engage with our cardiovascular research colleagues in our very own ‘backyard’ – on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton! The theme for this year’s meeting was “Shaping the Future of Cardiovascular […]
Evaluating the Impact of Dietary Fiber Supplementation in Patients with Heart Failure
Growing evidence suggests that the gut microbiome plays an important role in understanding the origins and development of heart failure (HF). It is also thought that fermentable dietary fiber (FDF) could have a direct impact on the gut microbiome; however, no adequately controlled studies have previously measured the effect of FDF in patients with HF. […]
Age, Sex, and Outcomes in Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction
Age and sex are both factors in the treatment and outcomes of patients with heart failure (HF). Current research shows that women and older patients are under-represented in HF clinical trials, and as a result, guideline recommendations are largely based on data from men. Published in JACC: Heart Failure, this secondary analysis of the VICTORIA trial […]
Frailty: A New Vital Sign in Heart Failure Comes of Age
Frailty is a state of reduced physiological capacity across multiple body systems that increases vulnerability and poor health outcomes in older adults. Although frailty is common, particularly amongst people with cardiovascular disease, it often goes unrecognized. In a recent companion editorial published in the European Heart Journal (referring to the article ‘Frailty and outcomes in heart failure patients […]
Kidney Function Monitoring in Patient with Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an irregular heart rhythm that causes the heart to beat abnormally and often very fast. In many instances, AF and chronic kidney disease (CKD), a condition characterized by the sustained loss of kidney function over time, co-exist due to shared risk factors (such as diabetes and hypertension) and similar mechanisms in […]
Recent Progress and Next Steps in the Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a condition characterized by high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery that carries blood from the heart to the lungs. PAH is a heterogeneous disease, meaning it has several root causes, and how the disease manifests is determined by a number of factors, such as PAH subtype, genetic background, age, […]
ECG Measurements Provide Additional Prediction Method for Death in Patients with High-Risk Heart Failure
In this secondary analysis of the VICTORIA trial, researchers sought to determine if electrocardiographic (ECG) measurements predict death in patients with chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), a condition in which the heart is unable to pump out blood effectively. Recently published in the European Journal of Heart Failure, this study included 4,880 patients from the […]
New Canadian Guidelines for the use of Antiplatelet Therapy
The 2023 Canadian Cardiovascular Society/Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology guidelines for the use of antiplatelet therapy were presented on October 28th at Vascular 2023 in Montreal and simultaneously published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. CVC faculty member, Dr. Kevin Bainey, was a key contributor to these guidelines as both the Guidelines Panel co-chair and lead author. The […]
Newly Validated Algorithms Reveal Significant Increase in Rates of Diabetes in Pregnancy
A pair of recent publications in the Canadian Journal of Diabetes examined diabetes in pregnancy in Alberta. This research was conducted by CVC post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Deliwe Ngwezi, and was supervised by Drs. Padma Kaul and Anamaria Savu; other members of the team included Dr. Rose Yeung (University of Alberta) and Dr. Sonia Butalia (University […]
Iron Supplementation in Heart Failure: Results from the HEART-FID Study
In the Ferric Carboxymaltose in Heart Failure with Iron Deficiency (HEART-FID) trial, 3065 ambulatory patients who had heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (a condition in which the heart is unable to pump out blood effectively) and iron deficiency, were randomized 1:1 to receive an intravenous iron supplementation called ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) or placebo, in addition […]
Fall 2023 Newsletter
The Fall 2023 issue of the Canadian Cardiac Chronicle newsletter is now available! Highlights from this issue include: Read and subscribe to the newsletter here.
Assessing the Impact of the Pandemic on Outcomes for Hospitalized Patients
New research published in JAMA Network Open sought to examine whether outcomes for patients hospitalized with non-COVID-19 conditions but without concomitant SARS-CoV-2 infection were different before versus during the pandemic. The researchers compared patient hospitalizations between April 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019, with those from April 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021, in 235 acute care […]
Association Between Vaccination Status and Outcomes in Patients Admitted to the ICU with COVID-19
While the COVID-19 vaccines can reduce the likelihood of people with COVID-19 requiring admission to an intensive care unit (ICU), little is known about the effect of these vaccines on outcomes in patients with critical illness. In a recently published study in Critical Care Medicine, researchers sought to examine how vaccination and booster status impact […]
Evaluating NT-proBNP Changes During Screening in the VICTORIA Trial
Recently published in Circulation: Heart Failure, this secondary analysis of the VICTORIA trial emphasizes the importance of selecting high-risk patients with heart failure (HF) with potentially modifiable cardiovascular events in order to diversify and enrich the study population. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate changes to N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), a protein produced by […]
STREAM-2: Half-Dose Tenecteplase Beneficial for Older STEMI Patients
ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) occurs when a coronary artery is completely blocked, and it is the most dangerous and severe type of heart attack. The STREAM-2 (Strategic Reperfusion in Elderly Patients Early After Myocardial Infarction) study, recently published in Circulation, sought to determine if a pharmoco-invasive treatment with half-dose tenecteplase, a clot-busting drug used to prevent death in STEMI […]
Background Medical Therapy and Clinical Outcomes From the VICTORIA Trial
In this secondary analysis of the VICTORIA trial published in Circulation: Heart Failure, researchers investigated if the primary composite outcome of cardiovascular death or heart failure (HF) hospitalization was related to variations in background use and dosing of guideline-directed medical therapy in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), a condition in which the heart is unable […]
Impact of Vericiguat on Outcomes Across Ejection Fraction in the VICTORIA Trial
Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) measures the heart’s ability to pump blood out of the left ventricle, and can help determine if a patient is at risk for heart failure (HF). Published in JACC: Heart Failure, this study evaluated the relationship of LVEF with biomarker levels (markers within the body measuring the presence of a […]
