Noninvasive tools to measure myocardial stiffness are limited. Intrinsic cardiac elastography in echocardiography relates to myocardial stiffness by measuring the propagation of the myocardial stretch generated by atrial contraction. The aims of the present study were (1) to evaluate myocardial stiffness using intrinsic cardiac elastography in healthy volunteers versus those with myocardial diseases (ie, cardiac amyloidosis [CA] and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) and (2) to identify key factors that affect myocardial stiffness.

Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is an excellent predictor of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk. Limited data exist on the age at which CAC transitions to nonzero among young adults. We aimed to assess the prevalence of CAC by the number of ASCVD risk factors and use this data to model the race- and sex-specific ages at which young adults transition to a CAC >0.

Previous observational studies showed left atrial appendage occlusions with the WATCHMAN device reduced 1-year mortality, which conflicted with evidence generated from randomized controlled trials. We proposed to use the high-dimensional propensity score (hdPS) to assist in nonactive comparator selection (prevalent user of medication) and compared 1-year mortality between patients with atrial fibrillation who received the WATCHMAN device (percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion device [pLAAO]) and direct oral anticoagulants in 2 matched cohorts based on (1) traditional propensity score (PS) and (2) integrating traditional PS with information learned from hdPS.

How different combinations of comorbidities influence risk at the patient level and population level in patients with heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction/heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is unknown. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of different combinations of cardiovascular and noncardiovascular comorbidities (ie, multimorbidity) and associated risk of death at the patient level and population level.

High out-of-pocket costs and financial toxicity related to heart failure treatment are substantial concerns. Two of 4 pillars of guideline-directed medical therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, for example, carry high costs that may attenuate their uptake. Furthermore, heart failure rarely occurs in isolation. Many patients have other comorbidities that require treatment, further driving up patients' out-of-pocket costs. Developing treatment plans that improve mortality without subjecting patients to financial toxicity can be challenging for several reasons. First, patients with heart failure can accrue out-of-pocket costs from multiple domains and can depend on a variety of insurance and pharmacy-related factors that can make determining patient-specific out-of-pocket cost estimates complicated. Second, strategies to mitigate financial toxicity involve health policy-level interventions and patient-level interventions. These have their own unique sets of challenges. Third, integrating out-of-pocket costs into shared decision-making requires nuanced and challenging discussions about whether a therapy is worth the cost. Though shared decision-making has been advocated, there are little data on how to best conduct these discussions. Health policies like the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 may provide relief to some patients, and efforts to improve transparency have the potential to be beneficial. Over the long term, policy solutions such as value-based insurance design and patient engagement solutions that emphasize enhancing shared decision-making have important potential to yield durable results.

The "2025 ACC/AHA/ACEP/NAEMSP/SCAI Guideline for the Management of Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes" incorporates new evidence since the "2013 ACCF/AHA Guideline for the Management of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction" and the corresponding "2014 AHA/ACC Guideline for the Management of Patients With Non-ST-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes" and the "2015 ACC/AHA/SCAI Focused Update on Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Patients With ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction." The "2025 ACC/AHA/ACEP/NAEMSP/SCAI Guideline for the Management of Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes" and the "2021 ACC/AHA/SCAI Guideline for Coronary Artery Revascularization" retire and replace, respectively, the "2016 ACC/AHA Guideline Focused Update on Duration of Dual Antiplatelet Therapy in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease."

Several quality improvement initiatives have focused on the quality gap in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), yet significant variations in quality persist. Our objective was to use a novel blinded peer review system to evaluate PCI quality, safety, and appropriateness across Michigan.

The appropriate use criteria for revascularization of stable ischemic heart disease have not been evaluated using randomized data. Using data from the randomized ISCHEMIA trial (International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness with Medical and Invasive Approaches; July 2012 to January 2018, 37 countries), the health status benefits of an invasive strategy over a conservative one were examined within appropriate use criteria scenarios.