Cardiovascular Diseases


Heart Failure in the United States: Rising Burden and Unmet Needs

Heart failure (HF) affects nearly 1 in 4 Americans over their lifetime, and its growing prevalence, rising mortality, widening disparities, and persistent undertreatment have made it an increasingly urgent public health crisis. About one-third of U.S. adults without symptomatic HF are already at risk (Stage A), while another 24–34% have […]


Effects of Sacubitril/Valsartan Compared With ARBs or CCBs

A meta-analysis of 15 randomized controlled trials involving 4,824 patients with high blood pressure found that sacubitril/valsartan significantly improved multiple ambulatory blood pressure measures compared with angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) or calcium channel blockers (CCBs), with a favorable safety profile. Compared with ARBs or CCBs, sacubitril/valsartan reduced 24-hour systolic and […]


Chronic Inflammation: A Common Pathway Linking Genetic and Environmental Cardiovascular Risk

Higher levels of chronic systemic inflammation were associated with smaller left ventricular volumes, compensatory increases in heart rate, and substantially higher cardiovascular risk in a large UK Biobank study. Among 488,079 participants with metabolomic, proteomic, cardiac MRI, and longitudinal data, higher inflammation measured by glycoprotein acetyls (GlycA) was associated with […]


Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Improves Outcomes in Coronary Heart Disease

A 2026 Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of 107 randomized trials involving 26,886 adults with coronary heart disease (CHD) found that exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR), compared with no structured exercise, reduces myocardial infarction (MI) and all-cause hospitalizations, likely provides a small reduction in mortality, and improves health-related quality of life […]


Nighttime Light Exposure Linked to Higher Cardiovascular Risk

Higher nighttime light exposure was associated with adverse changes in cardiac structure and function and increased risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events and death. In this UK Biobank population-based study, 11,071 participants with 7-day wrist-worn light measurements and subsequent cardiac MRI were evaluated, with high nighttime light exposure (>3 lux) […]


Function-Guided Complete Revascularization Improves Outcomes in STEMI

In patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and multivessel coronary artery disease, complete coronary revascularization guided by functional coronary angiography significantly reduced both major cardiovascular events and key safety events compared with conventional angiography-guided treatment. In this international randomized trial, 1,823 patients whose culprit lesion had been successfully treated […]


2026 Fifth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction

The Fifth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction (MI) updates the classification of MI by defining three major clinical settings—primary MI, secondary MI, and procedure-related MI—to better reflect underlying pathophysiology, support clinical evaluation, and incorporate objective diagnostic criteria. Primary MI occurs spontaneously because of an acute coronary pathology; although most cases […]