CardioSmart Launches Shared Decision-Making Challenge For FITs

An essential component of the patient-clinician relationship, shared decision-making improves both patient outcomes and patient satisfaction. The CardioSmart Shared Decision-Making Challenge is designed to encourage FITs to incorporate shared decision-making into daily practice and share their experience and best practices.

To participate, FITs are encouraged to use a CardioSmart infographic or decision aid with three to five patients and submit an essay about their experience, including best practices and lessons learned. The winners will receive free registration to ACC.25 and will be featured in Cardiology Magazine. The deadline to participate is Dec. 20.

Click here to find out more and apply.

Transforming CV Care Starts Now

The ACC, along with the Egyptian Society of Cardiology and the ACC Dominican Republic Chapter and the Dominican Society for Cardiology, respectively, hosted hundreds of cardiovascular clinicians for ACC Middle East 2024 and ACC Latin America 2024 this past fall.

Both conferences provided opportunities for attendees to learn about the latest cardiovascular science and evidence-based strategies directly impacting patient care, explore emerging trends, and exchange ideas and information with experts from the region and around the world.

"The ACC conferences are an important component of the ongoing educational mission for the ACC on a global level. They support interaction between cardiovascular professionals from various international regions," said Tarek Helmy, MD, FACC, co-chair of the ACC Middle East 2024 conference, which was held virtually this year.

Topics covered throughout the meetings spanned the entire field of cardiovascular medicine, including closer looks at AI in cardiology, deep dives into European and U.S. guidelines, unique challenges to women's heart health, top trials from 2024, emerging advances in cardiovascular prevention, and more.

"In keeping with ACC's Global vision, these conferences are structured so that regional providers benefit from an unprecedented activity, including unique opportunities to network with faculty directly involved in the science being discussed," said Cesar Herrera, MD, FACC, ACC Latin America 2024 co-chair.

Additionally, during each conference local Chapter teams representing countries from throughout each region competed in ACC FIT Jeopardy, with winning teams headed to compete in the ACC.25 FIT Jeopardy competition in Chicago. Posters and oral abstracts featuring the latest science from the regions were also presented.

In one study presented at ACC Latin America, held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, results showed the global prevalence of congenital heart disease was higher among women who live in high altitudes. (Click here to read more about the findings.)

"There is an underdiagnosed prevalence of congenital heart disease because not all high-altitude regions have the health resources for its evaluation, management and follow-up," said lead author Jean Pierre Eduardo Zila-Velasque, MD.

He noted it is crucial to implement cardiovascular public health policies to ensure these communities receive effective care, maternal detection, early intervention and improved survival rates related to congenital heart disease.

Another study from ACC Middle East, found women considered overweight or obese have a higher risk of hypertension and cardiovascular risk factors like hypertension and diabetes, than women with a standard BMI. (Click here to learn more.)

"I was drawn to this topic because of the alarming rise in these conditions in Middle Eastern women, which poses a significant public health challenge," said Mohammad Adnan Bani Baker, MD. "It is our hope that this study would bring attention and call for more targeted interventions to protect this vulnerable population."

In Memoriam: Joel Karliner, MD

Joel Karliner, MD, a leading global expert in the mechanisms of ischemic heart damage passed away on Oct. 21 in San Francisco after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 87 years old.

Karliner was Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and former chief of cardiology at the San Francisco VA Medical Center – a position he held from 1981 to 1999.

Throughout his entire career he was actively engaged in research, education and clinical programs, investigating the mechanisms of myocardial ischemia, reperfusion injury, cardiac remodeling and congestive heart failure, as well as the hemodynamic and pharmacologic influences for isovolumic relaxation and the role of alpha receptors, beta-blockade and angiotensin II on cardiac myocytes, ischemia and hypertrophy.

Karliner received his MD from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed his medicine internship and residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He also served as a U.S. Army Medical Corps captain. Following his residency, Karliner completed a cardiology fellowship at Georgetown University and a research fellowship at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He served as faculty at UCSD for 10 years before moving to UCSF.

During his career, Karliner served as an associate editor for JACC and Circulation and had leadership roles on many scientific review committees. He was the author of over 200 peer-reviewed publications, as well as numerous reviews, editorials and book chapters.

"He was a giant in cardiology," said Cardiology Editor-in-Chief John Gordon Harold, MD, MACC. "His work not only helped improve the lives of countless veterans, but his research has led to greater global understanding of ischemic heart disease."