Meeting Highlights

American College of Cardiology 64th Annual Scientific Session and Expo Walter Alexander

Nearly 14,000 health professionals (total attendance, 19,200) attended the 64th American College of Cardiology (ACC) Annual Scientific Session and Expo in San Diego from March 14 to 16, 2015. We review one key session on a new agent administered to lower cholesterol, and four other sessions on agents given in the milieu of acute coronary syndromes: cangrelor, bivalirudin, unfractionated heparin, ticagrelor, and Bendavia.

Effect of the PCSK9 Inhibitor Evolocumab on Cardiovascular Outcomes • Marc S. Sabatine, MD, Chairman of the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) Study Group, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Professor, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts Evolocumab’s robust 61% reduction of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) at 12 weeks plus significantly reduced cardiovascular outcomes in the OSLER 1 and 2 trials support the potential value of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibition in patients with hypercholesterolemia, Dr. Sabatine said. Evolocumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody against PCSK9, has demonstrated safety and large reductions in LDL-C in prior phase 2 and 3 studies. However, its impact on cardiovascular outcomes had previously remained undefined. Because of questions about the safety and outcome effects of new agents capable of lowering LDL-C dramatically, current guidelines emphasize statin therapy rather than absolute LDL-C–lowering capacity, ACC discussant Eric Peterson, MD, commented at an ACC press conference. “I think this study is a start down the roads of actually trying to answer those two questions.” Dr. Sabatine presented results from an extension of the OSLER trials including 4,465 patients (74% of the original cohort) who were randomized 2:1 to evolocumab plus standard of care (n = 2,976) or standard of care alone (n = 1,489). Patients in the evolocumab group received open-label, subcutaneous injections (140 mg every two weeks or 420 mg every month). Their mean age was 58 years; 51% were male. In the parent OSLER trial, baseline LDL-C was 120 mg/dL. After 12 weeks of treatment, median LDL-C was reduced 61% compared with standard of care alone to 48 mg/dL (95% confidence interval [CI], 59–63%), a 73 mg/dL absolute reduction (95% CI, 71–86%). The reduction was maintained through 48 weeks. In the evolocumab group, 90.2% of patients met the goal of LDL-C lower than 100 mg/dL and 73.6% met the goal The author is a freelance medical writer living in New York City.

of LDL-C lower than 70 mg/dL, compared with 26.0 and 3.8%, respectively, in the standard-of-care alone group (P 

American college of cardiology: 64th annual scientific session and expo.

Topics included a new agent to lower cholesterol and the use of cangrelor, bivalirudin, unfractionated heparin, ticagrelor, and Bendavia for acute cor...
2MB Sizes 1 Downloads 12 Views