Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) encompass a spectrum of conditions including unstable angina, non-ST-elevation myocardial  infarction (NSTEMI), or ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).¹ Although patients may present differently with ACS, they face many similar diagnostic tests, invasive management

Mixed data have been observed on the role of statins in the preventative setting of cardiovascular disease (CVD).¹ However, Dr. Raffaele Bugiardini, Department of Experimental, Diagnostic, and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna, Italy and his colleagues conducted a recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, which demonstrated evidence that receiving statin therapy before initial acute coronary syndrome (ACS) could reduce acute heart failure (AHF) and improve patient survival rates.²

Ticagrelor continues to be one of the often-used antiplatelet drugs in the management of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), however only 10% of the ACS patients treated with ticagrelor require coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) due to perioperative bleeding.¹ The current North American guidelines (Including ACC/AHA) advocate a waiting period of at least 5 days after ticagrelor cessation prior to non-urgent CABG, and the 2017 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines also recommend a waiting period of at least 3 days after ticagrelor cessation for non-urgent CABG. However, from the real-life clinical point of view, it is hypothesized that early surgery is noninferior to delayed surgery for severe or massive perioperative bleeding. Therefore, the RAPID CABG trial, a physician initiated multi-centre randomized study, was conducted to evaluate the safety of early CABG surgery after a shorter ticagrelor cessation of 2 to 3 days as compared to 5 to 7 days prior CABG, among 143 patients presenting with ACS who require non emergent CABG.¹ Primary endpoint was severe/ massive bleeding by the Universal Definition of Perioperative Bleeding (UDPB): Class 3 or 4.

The results from a 6-month follow-up of RAPID CABG trial indicated patients could discontinue ticagrelor 2 to 3 days prior to CABG without increasing the risk of early post-surgical bleeding and could also reduce the average length of hospital stay.

Dyslipidemias, particularly that of an increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and/or triglycerides (TGs), are often known to significantly elevate the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).^₁ The 2019 European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society (ESC

Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is a unique lipoprotein that has emerged as an independent risk factor for vascular diseases.¹ In the general population, the plasma levels of Lp(a) are similar in men and women and are skewed with a tail towards the highest levels (Figure 1).²

Patients with higher levels of plasma Lp(a) are at an increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) independent of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels.¹ Recent ESC/EAS guidelines have emphasized the identification of patients with elevated levels of Lp(a) and implementation of treatment with appropriate

The recent 2019 European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society Guidelines for the Management of Dyslipidemias have set a target low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-C goal of <55mg/dL for very high-risk patients requiring secondary prevention.¹

The new European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for the diagnosis and management of chronic coronary syndromes (CCS) were presented at the ESC congress 2019 in Paris, France. These new guidelines, which updated those published in 2013, have been revised to focus on CCS instead