Great debate: Hypertension during exercise should be treated

• Hypertension during exercise is common and may contribute to the overall burden of pressure-related and residual CV risk.
• Exercise BP:
  • Cannot be used to diagnose hypertension.
  • Does not reflect vascular pathology or pre-hypertension.
  • Is not associated with reduced exercise capacity.
• One should not be concerned about an increase in blood pressure during exercise; rather, blood pressure should be under control before commencing the exercises.

How to treat a patient with heart failure and LVEF> 40%

• Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is often under-diagnosed in clinical practice and poses a threat.
• Empagliflozin is the first drug to reduce CV death or first hospitlization for heart failure (HHF) in HFpEF patients.
• Effect of Empagliflozin on CV death and first HHF is consistent across multiple patient subgroups with HFpEF.
• In HFpEF patients Empagliflozin protects the kidney by slowing the decline of renal function.

TAVI: Gaps in evidence and expanding indications

• Biomarker screening/inclusion criteria is an important tool to identify patients with less severe aortic stenosis (AS) with evidence of left venticular damage.
• The expanding indications for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) are asymptomatic severe AS and “at risk” moderate AS.
• The future is upstream AS treatment which consists of improved biomarkers, access to care, pre-emptive aortic valve repair.

Minimalist TAVR and rapid discharge protocols: The future standards of care

• Minimalist transcatheter aortic valve replacement is a safe, predictable, and well-planned procedure with tailored resources.
• It lacks GA, Swan Ganz, Arterial Line, and Foley.
• If the team agrees on same-day discharge for post-TAVR patients, it occurs before 7 PM, and out-patient visits on post-TAVR days 1 and 2.

Valve-in-valve TAVI for bioprosthetic valve failure

• As per 2020 ACC/AHA guidelines, SAVR is indicated for patients aged < 65 years, SAVR or TAVI for age 65-80 years and TAVI for age > 80 years.
• For patients with longer life-expectancy, consider life-time management before first re-valving.
• Choose a bioprosthetic valve with good durability and possibility for safe valve-in-valve when it fails.

Hypertension guidelines: the experts' perspective

• For adults with hypertension requiring pharmacological treatment, WHO 2021 recommends combination therapy, preferably with SPC as an initial treatment.
• Latest evidence guideline recommends SPCs as a first line treatment.
• SPCs promote adherence, simplify the treatment strategy, improve medication persistence, and improve blood pressure management.

Which SPC for this patient with diabetes and chronic kidney disease?

• Renin angiotensin blockers are more effective at reducing albuminuria than other antihypertensive agents.
• Renin angiotensin blockers are recommended as part of treatment strategy in HTN patients in the presence of microalbuminuria or proteinuria.
• Blood pressure target for CKD patients recommended by international guidelines is <140/90 mmHg.

In search of atrial fibrillation in stroke patients: How to find it and handle it

• The diagnosis of AF on post-stroke monitoring requires documentation by an ECG of sufficient quality to allow confirmation by a health professional with expertise in ECG rhythm interpretation.
• In adult patients with ischemic stroke or TIA of undetermined origin, it is recommended that the longer duration of cardiac rhythm monitoring of more than 48 h and if feasible with implantable loop recorder to increase the detection of subclinical AF.
• In adult patients with ischemic stroke or TIA of undetermined origin, it is suggested to use of additional outpatient monitoring compared with in-hospital cardiac rhythm monitoring to increase the detection of AF.

Are ACE inhibitors still the cornerstone of cardiovascular protection?

• Perindopril improves life/death cycle of the endothelium and works well when combined with either Ca²⁺ antagonists, diuretics and/or statins.
• Prescribing ARBs for hypertension deprives patients from the benefit of ACEi on the coronary artery.
• In RCTs, ACEi exert a better coronary artery protection than ARBs.
• Perindopril reduces death and improves life of endothelium leads to prevention of ACS.
• In post AMI patients, perindopril decreases endothelial apoptosis.

Can we individualize treatment of hypertensive patients with single-pill combination therapies?

• Recent guidelines suggests to start with two drugs and ideally as a SPC.
• Single pill combination is more effective and provides rapid BP control than monotherapy and two free drugs.
• Single pill combination enhances adherence, improves CV protection and is more cost-effective.
• In PROGRESS trial, Perindopril and/or Indapamide showed 28% risk reduction of recurrent stroke.

Optimal medical treatment of chronic coronary syndromes (CCS)- from the old model to a new combination approach

• More tailored pharmacological treatment before considering percutaneous coronary intervention is required.
• The stepwise approach for CCS should be abandoned for a rationale combination of hemodynamic and metabolic agents alogn with reconsideration of preventive strategies.
• Triemtazidine can be used for symptom control in CCS as an early combination therapy with BB and CCB.

What should be the optimal quadri-therapy in clinical practice?

• A substantial proportion of patients (possibly 10-20%) need 4 drugs for BP control, i.e., to reach target.
• Beta-blockers are effective on BP reduction and have favourable effects on variety of clinical conditions that may co-exist with hypertension.
• A novel quadruple SPC with Perindopril/Indapamide/Amlodipine/Bisoprolol will offer a novel attractive asset of BP control.