We had nearly 70 submissions from FITs, CV Team, and Residents in our ePoster Showcase. You can view videos and poster pdf's of these outstanding cases and research presentations via this link.

Join your CV Team colleagues at 7:00 pm ET on Wednesday, December 8, for a disease-state webinar entitled Improving the Outlook for Heart Failure: Incorporating New Agents and New Guidance. Register.

Mark your calendar for the Ohio-ACC 2022 Virtual Spring Summit on Saturday, April 30, 2022. The 2022 Carl J. Wiggers Memorial Lecture will feature Mathew Maurer, MD, FACC, Columbia University.

Mark your calendars for two in-person (as of now) ACC meetings!

February 17-19, 2022

Washington, DC

April 2-4, 2022

Washington, DC

If Gwen Goldfarb, our chapter executive, or I can be of assistance to you, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Given the warm fellow response to the Ohio-ACC FIT Leadership Series, we will expand upon the curriculum and continue this series for its second year. The goal of this series is to educate FITs on maximizing fellowship time to work towards accomplishing career goals, and to highlight the important considerations of finding and negotiating a job.

The series will cover important topics for FITs as follows:

This year we are launching a new virtual and in-person hybrid conference series. The goal of these conferences will be to share education between our Ohio medical centers and provide a mechanism for FITs to network locally (in-person) and nationally (virtual platform). Our goal is to increase collaboration and sharing between the Ohio programs and share what we are doing in Ohio with interested FITs across the country. The first meeting will be held on February 9, 2022, in Cincinnati and it will be a joint effort between Cincinnati Children’s and the University of Cincinnati to present a unique adult congenital heart disease case with teaching and discussion. Please tune in to learn and make this a great conference experience! Registration information will be forthcoming.

We encourage all early career members to attain their FACC designation. We have put together tools to support your transition to the ultimate level of cardiovascular recognition, Fellowship of the ACC (FACC). Get the details on the FIT to FACC pathway.

Identification of effective guideline-directed medical therapies (GDMT) for patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has been challenging. Randomized clinical trials with mainstay GDMT treatments for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) have failed to show the same magnitude of benefit in the HFpEF population. Treatment of patients with HFpEF has consequently focused on addressing symptoms, underlying risk factors, and comorbidities (e.g. hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and atrial fibrillation).

The cardiovascular benefits of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have been explored in various patient populations including HFrEF and chronic kidney disease. The current recommendation for use of the SGLT2 inhibitors canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, empagliflozin, ertugliflozin, or sotagliflozin is patients with T2DM at risk of CV events to reduce hospitalizations for HF, major CV events, end-stage renal dysfunction, and cardiovascular death¹. Dapagliflozin and empagliflozin have specifically shown beneficial effects in patients with HFrEF in DAPA-HF (dapagliflozin) and EMPEROR-Reduced (empagliflozin) leading to FDA approval for risk reduction of cardiovascular mortality and hospitalization for heart failure in adults with HFrEF (with or without diabetes).² How SGLT2 inhibitors exhibit a beneficial effect in heart failure is uncertain, but hypothesized to be due to osmotic diuresis and natriuresis, decreases in arterial pressure and stiffness, a shift to ketone-based myocardial metabolism, and other effects thought to be favorable for myocardial remodeling².

The effects of SGLT2 inhibitors specifically in patients with HFpEF were explored recently in PRESERVED-HF (dapagliflozin) and EMPEROR-Preserved (empagliflozin). Both trials included approximately 50% of patients without diabetes and are summarized below. PRESERVED-HF examined the impact of dapagliflozin compared to placebo on quality of life indicators in patients with HFpEF, finding improved Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire Clinical Summary Score at 12 weeks and increased 6-minute walk test distance with dapagliflozin. EMPEROR-Preserved found a significantly reduced risk of the composite of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for HF in patients with HFpEF with or without diabetes treated with empagliflozin compared to placebo, predominantly driven by a reduction in hospitalization for HF. The results of these trials suggest a beneficial effect of SGLT2 inhibitors on quality of life indicators and clinical outcomes in patients with HFpEF with or without diabetes. Future studies with SGLT2 inhibitors are needed to confirm these findings and determine if this is a class effect.

1.     McDonagh TA, Metra M, Adamo M, et al. 2021 ESC guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure. European Heart Journal (2021). 42:3599-3726.

2.     Maddox TM, Januzzi JL, et al. 2021 update to the 2017 ACC expert consensus decision pathway for optimization of heart failure treatment. J Am Coll Cardiol (2021). 77(6): 772-810.

3.     Nassif, M.E., Windsor, S.L., Borlaug, B.A. et al. The SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: a multicenter randomized trial. Nat Med (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01536-x

4.     Anker SD, Butler J, Filippatos G, et al. Empagliflozin in heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction. N Eng J Med (2021); 385(16):1451-1461

JACC and JACC: Case Reports have launched JACC Patient Pathways, a new, interactive case report experience that illustrates the cross-specialty decision-making in an acute care setting. Geared toward cardiovascular professionals in all career stages, JACC Patient Pathways provide the personal, collegial feel of Grand Rounds in an interactive patient timeline format. Images, video and expert discussion clips are incorporated, detailing the teamwork and evidence-based decision-making that led to optimal patient outcomes. In the first JACC Patient Pathway, "A Young Female Patient in Extremis," Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, MACC; Y.S. Chandrashekhar, MD, DM, FACC; Blair D. Erb, MD, FACC; Julia Grapsa, MD, PhD, FACC; Michael J. Mack, MD, MACC; and Bernard Prendergast, MD, provide an expert-led journey through admission, diagnostic assessment, treatment and follow-up. Begin the patient journey and find related materials at JACC.org/JACC-Patient-Pathways.

Did you miss the Nov. 13 Coffee With the ACC President focused on change and risk communication through the lens of vaccine hesitancy and cardiovascular disease patients? The recording is now available on YouTube! Experience the entire conversation between ACC President Dipti Itchhaporia, MD, FACC, and guests Randall N. Hyer, MD, PhD, MPH, VP, Medical Affairs at Moderna, and Vincent Covella, founder and director of the Center for Risk Communication, and get tips on how to use a message map to communicate with patients on difficult topics like vaccinations. The final Coffee of 2021 will be held on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 10 a.m. ET where guests Michelle A. Albert, MD, MPH, FACC, and Ed W. Childs, MD, FACS, will discuss health equity and social determinants of health. View the recent recording here and RSVP for the next chat at ACC.org/ACCCoffeeTable.

A new JACC Chest Pain Interactive Tool is now available to help clinicians in determining risk and appropriate testing in patients presenting with chest pain by quickly walking through multiple scenarios based on recommendations from the newly released AHA/ACC 2021 Chest Pain Guideline. The web-based tool easily connects clinicians to the recommendations, tables and figures from the new guideline and outlines the path forward for low- to high-risk patients with acute and stable chest pain. Access the tool, along with additional clinician and patient Chest Pain Guideline resources, on the JACC Chest Pain Guideline Hub.

Your ACC now offers text alerts to make it easier for members to take grassroots action on key issues. Take a minute to text ACC to 50457 to receive alerts that will help you communicate with lawmakers when key issues arise in your state or in Washington, DC.

For those of you looking for an alternative to the traditional 10-year board certification exam, please consider the ACC’s new product, the Collaborative Maintenance Pathway (CMP). The CMP is about learning and refreshing your knowledge on a yearly basis. It's delivered through ACC's SAPs, so it includes comprehensive educational material and annual updates. You'll get text and presentations created by experts, plus hundreds of self-assessment questions. Learn in whatever format suits your needs – reading, watching, and/or listening. Find out more here.

Have you had a chance to look at the Ohio-ACC Women in Cardiology Shine the Spotlight Campaign? This initiative showcases Ohio-ACC female cardiologists to offer networking, mentoring, and research and clinical opportunities. We hope that this campaign will also highlight a cardiology career to our talent pipeline.

To be a part of the Ohio-ACC WIC Shine the Spotlight Campaign, please submit your professional photo (i.e. official faculty or fellow portrait or similar quality) and statement response(s). Brief, bold statements will be most effective. SUBMIT YOUR INFORMATION.