Cardio Round-up: LIFE, RAFT-AF, and More from ACC.21; Plus Much More

Who benefits most from rhythm control in atrial fibrillation? The RAFT-AF study, presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session (ACC.21) adds further evidence in this complex discussion. Investigators randomized 411 participants with high-burden atrial fibrillation (AFib) and symptomatic heart failure (HF) to one of two strategies: aggressive rhythm control with catheter ablation or aggressive rate control, targeting a heart rate of <80 bpm at rest and <110 bpm after walking. They found that ablation, with adjunct antiarrhythmic drug therapy if needed, did not reduce the time to death or HF events compared to the rate control strategy. Enrollment was stopped early due to low enrollment, low event rates, and futility. This article contains exclusive commentary from Dr. Hugh Calkins. Read it here.

Sacubitril-valsartan was tolerated in participants with advanced heart failure (AHF) but was not superior to valsartan alone in lowering NT-proBNP levels, according to the results of the LIFE trial presented at the ACC.21. Neither arm of the study achieved the primary endpoint evaluating change in NT-proBNP level from baseline, measured as area under the curve through 24 weeks. This piece includes Exclusive Comments on the trial results from Dr. Eugene Braunwald. Read it here.

DocWire News medical lead Payal Kohli, MD, wraps the meeting and talks about her favorite research from the conference. Some of the topics include the LAAOS results, the ADAPTABLE study, and even some feedback on the all-digital meeting format. Watch the interview here.

Don’t forget to check out all of our coverage of ACC.21.

One More:

The results of a large number of recent national heart attack studies suggest that patients with cardiogenic shock survived at a significantly higher rate when treated with a protocol developed by cardiologists at Henry Ford Hospital in collaboration with four Metro Detroit hospitals. To speak about this study, DocWire News interviewed Dr. Babar Basir, director of the acute mechanical circulatory system program at Henry Ford Health System, and the study’s principal investigator. Watch the video here.