Between all of the new medications, devices and procedures created and improved upon to fight heart disease and stroke, 2014 turned out to be a busy year for cardiovascular advancements.
In a recent issue of the Harvard Heart Letter, Editor in Chief Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, highlighted 10 of 2014's most important cardiovascular advancements to know, listed below.
1. Novel drugs can cut cholesterol levels dramatically. Harmful LDL cholesterol levels can be cut in half thanks to a new class of drugs. The drugs are given by injection once or twice a month and studies are under way to find out if any of these agents, known as PCSK9 inhibitors, also prevent heart attacks or improve heart disease survival.
2. Drug lowers hospitalization risk for heart failure. A new drug called LCZ696 lowered the risk of being hospitalized with heart failure or dying from heart disease by 20 percent among people with chronic heart failure.
3. Nonsurgically replacing aortic valves advances. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement offers a nonsurgical way to fix a stiff, narrowed aortic valve. Compared with those who had open-heart surgery, people with TAVR had a higher one-year survival rate. The method is currently approved for people considered too sick or high-risk for surgery.
4. Renal denervation's effectiveness is disproven. Renal denervation, which uses radiofrequency waves to zap nerve endings in arteries leading to the kidneys, was a promising experimental treatment for stubbornly high blood pressure. Once it was tested, though, the technique proved no more effective than a sham procedure for lowering blood pressure.
5. Wireless sensors offer monitoring for severe heart failure. The battery-free sensor of the CardioMEMS HF System helps physicians keep tabs on people with serious heart failure by measuring pressure in the pulmonary artery, which transports blood from the heart to the lungs. The system wirelessly sends data to the physician, who can then adjust the person's treatment as necessary.
6. Weight-loss surgery for people with diabetes proves effective. Bariatric surgery helped obese people with diabetes — which increase the risk of cardiovascular disease — eliminate most of their diabetes medications and use fewer blood pressure and cholesterol-controlling drugs. Surgery proved to be far more effective to treat diabetes than weight-loss counseling, frequent blood sugar testing and medication.
7. Lowering blood pressure may treat sleep apnea. Treating sleep apnea may help lower blood pressure in people who have heart disease or are prone to it. Continuous positive airway pressure delivers a constant stream of air through a face mask, which prevents the back of the throat from collapsing and blocking airflow.
8. Anti-clotting drug to lower risk of heart attack approved. Vorapaxar, the first in a new class of drugs called PAR-1 antagonists, prevents platelets from clumping together and forming clots. Thus, the new FDA-approved medicine lowers the risk of heart attack in people who have already had a heart attack or peripheral artery disease.
9. Faster treatment times better outcomes after a stroke. The American Heart Association's new initiative — known as Target: Stroke — prompted 11 hospital-based strategies to speed treatment for stroke. Due to the faster treatment, fewer people died in the hospital, and more people returned home instead of going to a rehabilitation facility.
10. Stroke prevention guidelines are updated. New guidelines to lower the likelihood of a repeat stroke among stroke survivors now include screening better for diabetes and obesity; following a Mediterranean-style diet; using new oral anti-clotting drugs as alternatives to warfarin; screening for sleep apnea in some people; and longer monitoring for atrial fibrillation among people who have a stroke of unknown cause.
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