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Rapid Fire with Dr. Nasrien Ibrahim & Dr. Javed Butler
Medscape is pumped to bring you another issue of the Cardiology E-newsletter! We have some exciting updates regarding the 5th Annual Going Back to the Heart of Cardiology. Keep reading to learn about what makes this years Going Back to the Heart of Cardiology different from previous years.
This issue we tap into Medscape Heart of Cardiology thought leaders Dr. Nasrien Ibrahim & Dr. Javed Butler, who candidly weigh in on: the need for paradigm shifts in how we approach patients with obesity and/or type 2 diabetes, the most critical new advance in chronic heart failure therapies, GLT inhibitors for heart failure prevention and treatment, identifying and treating iron deficiency in heart failure, what in cardiology today needs more focus, a major threat to people’s heart health today, their most challenging but rewarding case, and misunderstood fact about the heart.
Coming together and sharing insights on cardiology research and practice has always been interesting for thought leaders to do here, and valuable for Medscape readers. KOLs getting candid yields critical perspectives that can improve patient care. Read on to see what they think!
Below, make sure to check out this issue’s Pulse, with articles from the Journal of the American Heart Association, Circulation, European Heart Journal, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Cardiology News, and New England Journal of Medicine.
Thank you to these doctors for sharing their time and expertise. Don’t forget to register for Medscape’s Going Back to the Heart of Cardiology. Please contact me at colleen@cmhadvisors.com with any comments and/or suggestions! –Colleen Hutchinson
Rapid Fire with Dr. Nasrien Ibrahim & Dr. Javed Butler
Nasrien E. Ibrahim, MD, MPH is an advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School; she is also a health equity researcher founded The Equity in Heart Transplant Project, a nonprofit providing financial assistance to heart transplant patients.
Javed Butler, MD, MPH, MBA, is the President of the Baylor Scott and White Research Institute and Senior Vice President for the Baylor Scott and White Health. He is also the Distinguished Professor of Medicine at University of Mississippi in Jackson, MS.
Something in cardiology today that needs to be focused on more:
Dr. Butler: Cardiology should take obesity seriously.
Dr. Ibrahim: Prevention.
Critical recent advance in chronic heart failure therapies (drugs to devices):
Dr. Ibrahim: DCD heart transplants expanded the donor pool.
Dr. Butler: SGLT2i inhibitors today and the potential role of GLP1RA tomorrow.
Misunderstood fact about the heart:
Dr. Butler: That ejection fraction and hemodynamics are closely correlated.
One of my most challenging but rewarding cases:
Dr. Ibrahim: A young patient with limited resources that we ushered through the transplant process with lots of advocacy and social support who is now doing great.
Dr. Butler: Recovery of advanced HFrEF after kidney transplant.
Major threat to people’s heart health today:
Dr. Ibrahim: Obesity.
Dr. Butler: Obesity.
The need for paradigm shifts in how we approach patients with obesity and/or type 2 diabetes:
Dr. Ibrahim: We must treat obesity like it's a chronic medical condition as we treat any other medical condition such as hypertension.
Dr. Butler: Identify obesity as a disease state and a cardiovascular risk factor treated by cardiologists.
GLT inhibitors for heart failure prevention and treatment:
Dr. Butler: Paradigm shift.
Dr. Ibrahim: SGLT2i are easy to initiate with minimal side effects, but have a profound effect on favorable outcomes.
Identifying and treating iron deficiency in heart failure:
Dr. Ibrahim: We don't do a great job identifying it, and when we do, the treatment isn't always ideal.
Dr. Butler: Unappreciated.
What is critical to optimizing guideline‐directed medical therapy in heart failure:
Dr. Butler: Realizing that errors of omission harm patients.
Dr. Ibrahim: Having the total buy-in of the patient, 4-drug regimen titrated to max tolerated/target doses for life.
ANNOUNCEMENT: GOING BACK TO THE HEART OF CARDIOLOGY HAS NEW DATES & LOCATION
CME 2025—Add to your calendar & sign up for updates:
5th Annual Going Back to the Heart of Cardiology - Medscape Conference
This three-day meeting provides interactive presentations, Q&As, panel discussions and networking opportunities. In addition to the scientific sessions, there will be informative bonus presentations. Our internationally renowned faculty will present the most up-to-date, clinically relevant information to assist you in the treatment of your patients. The conference is chaired by Robert A. Harrington, MD, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and provost for medical affairs at Cornell University, and Fatima Rodriguez, MD, MPH, associate professor and section chief in preventive cardiology at Stanford University.
Location and time change:
- Moving to the East Coast in 2025!
- January 24-26, 2025
- Miami Beach, Florida at the legendary Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel (previously held in California)
A message from one of our co-chairs:
“After the holiday bustle, it's the perfect timing to re-energize and kickstart your year with innovative cardiology education for the entire cardiology team. And yes, I have a soft spot for my hometown—a great place to be in January!” - Fatima Rodriguez, MD, MPH
To register, click here!
The Pulse
Cardiology News: Evidence Grows for SGLT2 Inhibitors in Rheumatology
JACC Original Research: Efficacy and Safety of Dapagliflozin in Patients With Acute Heart Failure
NEJM Original Article: New Hope for a Common and Deadly Heart Condition — ITT Episode 30
Medical Intelligence Quiz: ECG abnormalities in patients with diabetes