For patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AFib) who had no contraindications to taking oral anticoagulants, the use of a device to close off the left atrial appendage in the heart—a small pouch where blood can pool and form dangerous clots—was comparable to standard medication therapy in reducing the combined rate of all-cause stroke, cardiovascular death and systemic embolism at three years. Moreover, closure of this appendage was found superior to long-term oral anticoagulation for pre-specified major and non-major non-procedural bleeding in these patients, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

Patients who had low doses of clot-buster drugs delivered directly to the site of a pulmonary embolism (PE) via a catheter using ultrasound to enhance their effect had significantly better outcomes than those who received standard systemic anticoagulants, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26). The targeted catheter-based approach reduced early PE-related death, circulatory collapse or PE recurrence by more than 60%.

Using the American Heart Association’s recently developed PREVENT score to estimate a patient’s 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease, researchers found that women with the highest risk of cardiovascular disease were most likely to experience osteoporatic bone fractures. The findings could indicate that the PREVENT score may be valuable in identifying patients who could benefit from a bone density screening. 

In 2023, globally 259,000 people died from meningitis and 2.5 million people were infected with the disease, suggests a study published in The Lancet Neurology. Although death and infection rates have declined significantly since 1990, progress is insufficient to meet the WHO targets of a 50% reduction in infections and 70% reduction in deaths by 2030.  

A team led by Dr. Kuan-lin Huang, PhD, has been named a winner of the $1 million Alzheimer’s Insights AI Prize, the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative (AD Data Initiative) announced on March 20. Dr. Huang is an Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The award honors the development of Biomni-AD, an advanced AI-powered “co-scientist” designed to dramatically reduce the time required to generate scientific insights from complex biomedical data. The Mount Sinai team collaborated with partners at Stanford University on the winning project. Originally conceived as a single $1 million award, the competition expanded to recognize two winning teams, doubling the total prize amount to $2 million—reflecting both the exceptional quality of submissions and the urgency of advancing new approaches to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

A new survey by Morning Consult and the nonprofit Physicians Committee finds that in response to the workers’ strike at one of the country’s largest slaughterhouses, a JBS facility in Colorado, a large percentage, 71%, of Americans say workers have the right to strike as opposed to staying on the job to continue beef  production. In a separate survey question, younger Americans favor the transition of slaughterhouses to produce plant-based protein. The Physicians Committee is a nonprofit health advocacy organization with 17,000 physician members nationwide.