Weight Loss Pill Warning; Very Low LDL-C Stays Course; Fungal Growth on TAVR Valve

FDA warns consumers that Alfia Weight Loss Capsules contain sibutramine, a controlled substance known to pose cardiac risks to certain people.

Taking LDL cholesterol all the way down to <20 mg/dL was associated with reduced cardiovascular events and no safety signals around 5 years into FOURIER-OLE. (Circulation)

Modeling predicts risk of long-term atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease for a given young adult over a horizon of 30 years. (Journal of the American College of Cardiology)

Contemporary snapshot across health systems in Canada, Europe, and Israel suggests a heart failure prevalence of 1-2% for adults around the world. (Heart)

Researchers describe a new way to preserve donor hearts that increases both the amount of time they can be stored and transported, as well as improves their function after they are transplanted. (Science Translational Medicine)

For people with coronary artery disease in cardiac rehabilitation, high-intensity interval exercise training improved cardiorespiratory fitness to a larger degree than moderate intensity steady-state workouts. (European Journal of Preventive Cardiology)

Personal counseling did not get people with peripheral artery disease to walk more, a randomized trial found. (JAMA Cardiology)

Consumption of free sugars, not total carbohydrates, was associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease in an analysis of the U.K. Biobank. (BMC Medicine)

A jury ruled that Medtronic infringed on Colibri’s patents in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and that the company now owes over $106 million in damages. (FierceBiotech)

A case of fungal endocarditis of an Evolut TAVR valve that had to be surgically explanted and followed by re-do aortic valve replacement. (European Heart Journal)

Outpatients with isolated left bundle branch block demonstrated deficits in maximal functional capacity even with a highly active lifestyle. (Clinical Cardiology)

LivaNova says its Essenz Perfusion System, featuring a heart-lung machine and a patient monitor, is now under limited commercial release to support patients during cardiopulmonary bypass procedures in Europe.

FDA cleared the LVivo IQS software system for cardiac ultrasound acquisition aided by artificial intelligence, DiA Imaging Analysis announced.

Artificial intelligence models have shown good results for individualized prediction of malignant ventricular arrhythmia or sudden cardiac arrest — in practice, however, they may have issues with generalizability. (eBioMedicine)

The selective thrombin inhibitor argatroban (Acova) did not improve outcomes when given on top of alteplase (Activase) for acute ischemic stroke. (JAMA)

Study finds infants in certain socioeconomic groups more likely to be diagnosed with congenital heart disease later in life. (USA Today)