Year in Cardiovascular Medicine 2024

Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and chronic coronary syndromes (CCSs) are at excess risk of bleeding when long-term anticoagulation is combined with antiplatelet therapy. The open-label EPIC-CAD trial compared a strategy of edoxaban alone vs. edoxaban plus aspirin (or a P2Y12 inhibitor) in 1038 South Korean patients with high-risk AF and CCS [>6 months post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or >12 months post-acute coronary syndrome (ACS)].

Innovation in cardiovascular interventions has been particularly dynamic in 2024 as demonstrated by high quality trials and practice guidelines (Graphical Abstract) that have significantly advanced the field of coronary interventions with new strategies and devices, especially in complex lesions and high-risk patients; percutaneous valve interventions have reached maturity with more robust evidence confirming safety and efficacy in patients with aortic stenosis, but also in patients with mitral and tricuspid regurgitation.

With further increasing numbers of publications this year including an unusually high number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), we had a very difficult task to select the 10 ‘best’ papers on valvular heart disease. We restricted our selection to publications in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Lancet, European Heart Journal, Circulation, and Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

This year, exciting developments in the lipid field have added novel therapies to our armamentarium of lipid-lowering agents and provided new insight on biomarkers. A recent study in 293 876 UK Biobank adults without cardiovascular disease at baseline evaluated whether measuring LDL-C, non-HDL-C, and triglycerides provide sufficient information for clinical care.1 ApoB was found to be a more accurate marker of cardiovascular risk than LDL-C or non-HDL-C.1

Ischaemic heart disease remains the leading cause of death globally, according to the World Health Organization. Here, we summarize the top 10 papers in 2024 that we think may help facilitate better classification, detection, risk stratification, and, ultimately, treatment of patients with ischaemic heart disease (Graphical Abstract).

One of the seminal publications in the field of cardio-oncology in 2024 was by Rivero-Santana et al.1 on the predictive/prognostic value of the HFA-ICOS risk proforma for anthracycline cardiotoxicity. Stratification of expected level of cardiotoxicity risk at baseline is a key element in the 2022 European Society of Cardiology Guidelines on cardio-oncology.

Due to its high prevalence and incidence, heart failure (HF) continues to be a major threat to patients and health care professionals. Here, we have compiled 10 impactful papers published in 2024.