Advances in Clinical Cardiology 2017: A Summary of Key Clinical Trials

Conor McQuillan, Alastair Gray, Aileen Kearney, Ian B. A. Menown

Numerous important cardiology clinical trials have been published or presented at major international meetings during 2017. This paper aims to summarize these trials and place them in clinical context. The authors reviewed clinical trials presented at major cardiology conferences during 2017 including the American College of Cardiology, European Association for Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions, European Society of Cardiology, European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics, and the American Heart Association. Selection criteria were trials with a broad relevance to the cardiology community and those with potential to change current practice. A total of 75 key cardiology clinical trials were identified for inclusion. New interventional and structural cardiology data include left main bifurcation treatment strategy, multivessel disease management in cardiogenic shock, drug-eluting balloons for in-stent restenosis, instantaneous wave-free physiological assessment, new-generation stents (COMBO, Orsiro), transcatheter aortic valve implantation, and closure devices. New preventative cardiology data include trials of liraglutide, empagliflozin, PCSK9 inhibitors (evolocumab and bococizumab), inclisiran, and anacetrapib. Antiplatelet data include the role of uninterrupted aspirin therapy during non-cardiac surgery and dual antiplatelet therapy following coronary artery bypass grafting. New data are also included from fields of heart failure (levosimendan, spironolactone), atrial fibrillation (apixaban in DC cardioversion), cardiac devices (closed loop stimulation pacing for neuromediated syncope), and electrophysiology (catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation). This paper presents a summary of key clinical cardiology trials during the past year and should be of practical value to both clinicians and cardiology researchers.