I am pleased to have the opportunity to summarize an important recent paper on the use of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors by Drs. Muthiah Vaduganathan, Gregg Fonarow, and colleagues in JAMA Cardiology,1 that was published simultaneously with AHA20. Background: SGLT2 inhibitors are a class of medications that were initially developed for management of diabetes … Read more
AHA20 is wrapping up today with the final sessions. It’s been another excellent meeting with tons of new data that was presented. One consistent theme remains, debates continue to drive the conversation in the management of patients with cardiovascular diseases. The ISCHEMIA trial did not disappoint again. It led to great discussions regarding the contemporary … Read more
It’s safe to say we are not living in normal times. This is Heart Failure (HF) in the time of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Patients with COVID-19 and preexisting cardiovascular disease (CVD) are at an increased risk of severe disease and death. Moreover, infection has also been associated with cardiac injury such as acute myocardial … Read more
I am always taken aback when I recommend a switch to sacubitril/valsartan in a patient with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and the response is “my patient feels fine”. This is a common response and certainly not a good enough reason to not optimize guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT) in patients with HFrEF. … Read more
This week, the ACHA (American Congenital Heart Association) hosted a webinar in regards to Coronavirus aka SARS-CoV-2, and the illness it causes, COVID-19, 3,000 attended (view the recording here.) CHD patients, parents of CHD patients and CHD providers had the same question, how does this virus affect this special population? Unfortunately, the data is lacking … Read more
As the population continues to age, along with the addition of lifesaving and prolonging medical therapies, the prevalence of HF will continue to increase. In this article, we will solely focus on Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF), and the potential solutions to the issues with the optimization of guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT) … Read more
When I started my Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant fellowship, my program director told me this year would change my life. I thought, “Yeah okay, whatever.” Boy, did that year change my life. The way I looked at the world changed entirely. Transplant is one of the most incredible medical therapies available to patients with end-stage heart, … Read more
Thiamine deficiency is an uncommon nutritional deficiency in the developed world. The population most at risk in North America and Europe has been noted to be alcoholics with poor diets. This nutrient deficiency can manifest as several different syndromes, one of which is “beriberi.” Beriberi was first described by Dr. Wenckebach in the early 1900s … Read more
Our understanding of the genetic basis of adult-onset cardiomyopathy is rapidly evolving. Most of us learned to practice medicine in a paradigm that relied on detailed disease phenotyping, but now we have the ability to incorporate genetic and genomic information into routine clinical care. Even if you cannot remember the last time you thought about … Read more
Walking into the Palmer House Hotel, the longest continuously operating hotel in the United States, you can’t help but pause in awe at the intricate décor and take in the most photographed ceiling in the world. I make my way to the Honoré Ballroom, named after Bertha Honoré Palmer, the wife of Palmer and an … Read more