Cardio Round-up: COVID-19 Updates, Interview, and More

There is more COVID news in this week’s Round-up, including an interview with Dr. Carl J. “Chip” Lavie about some commonly used drugs for treating hypertension and their use in patients with COVID-19. 

Interview with Chip Lavie, MD

Carl J. “Chip” Lavie, MD, of the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans, talks about a newly published review in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings looking at the use of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in hypertensive patients who also have diagnosed COVID-19.

To read the DocWire News article covering the study, click here.

To read the paper, click here.

https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/cardiology-picks/ace-inhibitors-and-arbs-in-hypertensive-covid-19-patients-lavie-interview/

COVID-19, CVD, and Fatal Outcomes at Ground Zero

Researchers from a single center in Wuhan, China, the original epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, looked at 187 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infections (144 of whom were discharged and 43 who died during the course of the study). Plasma troponin-T and NT-proBNP levels during hospitalization and impending death were increased significantly compared with admission values in patients who did not survive. There were while no significant dynamic changes of troponin-T levels, and NT-proBNP was observed in survivors. “Myocardial injury is significantly associated with fatal outcome of COVID-19, while the prognosis of patients with underlying cardiovascular disease but without myocardial injury is relatively favorable,” the authors wrote.

https://www.docwirenews.com/cardiology/covid-19-fatal-outcomes-cardiovascular-disease-myocardial-injury/

Dapagliflozin Shows Benefits for HFrEF Patients Regardless of Diabetes

Patients who had heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) in this JAMA study (n=4,744) were given a once-daily dose of 10 mg dapagliflozin (or placebo) added to regular therapy. The primary study outcome was composite worsening heart failure or cardiovascular death, and outcomes were analyzed by diabetes status. “In this exploratory analysis of a randomized trial of patients with HFrEF, dapagliflozin compared with placebo, when added to recommended therapy, significantly reduced the risk of worsening heart failure or cardiovascular death independently of diabetes status,” the researcher wrote of the results.

https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/cardiology-picks/dapagliflozin-heart-failure-reduced-ejection-fraction-diabetes/