Upfront Ezetimibe in ACS; New Watchman LAA Occluder OK’d; Low-Cost FH Genotyping

Compared with statins alone, upfront dual therapy with a statin and ezetimibe (Zetia) was associated with better survival in acute coronary syndrome, a Polish registry showed. (Journal of the American Heart Association)

What does private equity’s entry into cardiology mean for existing trends of overusing resources? (STAT+)

Systolic blood pressure (BP) tends to creep up nearly 2 mm Hg during wintertime in the U.S., according to research highlighted by the American Heart Association.

Investigational RNAi therapy zilebesiran reduced 24-hour mean systolic BP by more than 15 mm Hg in the KARDIA-1 phase II study, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals announced.

Valsartan failed to slow the progression of subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the VANISH clinical trial. (JAMA Cardiology)

Research suggests it takes far fewer than 10,000 steps daily to incur survival and cardiovascular benefits from walking. (Journal of the American College of Cardiology)

Based on bleeding data, apixaban (Eliquis) in chronic kidney disease patients appears to be better dosed at 2.5 mg rather than 5 mg. (Circulation)

Asians in particular had a reduced dementia risk from taking direct-acting oral anticoagulants instead of warfarin for atrial fibrillation, meta-analysis finds. (JACC: Asia)

Boston Scientific said the FDA approved the newest-generation Watchman FLX Pro left atrial appendage closure device.

FDA said it granted marketing authorization to the Esolution Esophageal Retractor for preventing esophageal injuries during atrial fibrillation ablation procedures.

The CorVista System with CAD Add-On snagged FDA clearance for quick machine learning-based evaluation of coronary artery disease, CorVista Health said.

Women taking NSAIDs and hormonal contraception tended to have modestly more venous thromboembolic events. (BMJ)

Dutch professional athletes showed minimal cardiovascular risk from returning to play after COVID-19 infection. (Heart)

Nobel Prize winner Ferid Murad, MD, PhD, known for studying the effects of nitric oxide on the heart and blood vessels, died at age 86. (New York Times)

The number of cardiovascular deaths related to lead exposure is higher than previous estimates. (Lancet Planetary Health)

A low-cost, high-throughput genotyping array was developed for diagnosing familial hypercholesterolemia. (Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine)

Retailers’ low-cost generic programs offered more limited coverage for certain heart medications. (Annals of Internal Medicine)

Exercise test abnormalities predicted deaths, cardiovascular and noncardiovascular alike, in a primary prevention cohort. (Mayo Clinic Proceedings)

FDA announced the removal of risk evaluation and mitigation strategies restrictions from alosetron (Lotronex), previously in place due to concerns about ischemic colitis and serious complications of constipation.