In a new study, treatment with self-amplifying RNA contained in lipid nanoparticles to increase the production of atrial natriuretic peptide preserved ventricular function and reduced cardiac fibrosis in mouse and pig models of myocardial infarction.

In the HI-PEITHO trial, ultrasound-facilitated, catheter-directed fibrinolysis plus anticoagulation improved outcomes compared with anticoagulation alone in patients with acute, intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism.

Researchers have developed a deep learning system that uses short videos of the face passively recorded during everyday use of smartphones to monitor heart rate and resting heart rate. The system was validated under laboratory and free-living conditions and across a range of skin tones.

In the C-TRACT trial involving patients with post-thrombotic syndrome, the addition of endovascular treatment to standard care reduced the severity of symptoms and improved quality of life, but increased the risk of bleeding, compared with standard care alone.

A heart–brain loop, which involves vagal sensory neurons in the heart, the paraventricular nucleus in the brain and sympathetic signalling via the superior cervical ganglia, mediates adverse cardiac remodelling after myocardial infarction in mice.

In the CHIP-BCIS3 trial, elective left ventricular unloading with a microaxial flow pump did not reduce the risk of major adverse clinical outcomes in patients with severely impaired left ventricular function undergoing complex percutaneous coronary intervention.

Tissue engineered heart muscle implanted on to the epicardium can structurally and functionally remuscularize the failing hearts of rhesus macaques, with no major adverse effects; a clinical trial of this approach is now underway in patients with heart failure.

In the VESALIUS-CV trial, the PCSK9 inhibitor evolocumab reduced the risk of a first cardiovascular event in patients with atherosclerosis or diabetes mellitus but without a previous myocardial infarction or stroke.

In the TANDEM and BROADWAY clinical trials, treatment with the CETP inhibitor obicetrapib in addition to background lipid-lowering therapy significantly reduced plasma LDL-cholesterol levels.

Researchers have engineered a millimetre-scale, bioresorbable, optoelectronic system that can be minimally invasively implanted into the heart and wirelessly controlled by a light source on the surface of the skin to provide temporary cardiac pacing.

Large-scale clinical trials presented at the ESC Congress 2025 support the use of high-dose vaccination for influenza to reduce hospitalization for cardiorespiratory disease in older adults and to improve outcomes in patients who have been hospitalized for acute heart failure.

Endothelial cells in ischaemic microvessels undergo necroptosis, which is linked to haemolysis and the deposition of haemolysed red blood cell membranes at the sites of endothelial cell death. This process might be a haemostatic mechanism to prevent interstitial bleeding; however, excessive aggregation can cause microvascular obstruction and microangiopathy.

In the DIGIT-HF trial, treatment with digitoxin in addition to guideline-directed medical therapy reduced the risk of hospitalization for worsening heart failure or all-cause death compared with placebo in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

A new study indicates that proteins in the sarcomere complex are stochastically removed and degraded and are replaced by newly translated proteins. Sarcomere turnover occurs at a similar rate within cardiomyocytes and across the heart and slows with ageing.

Data from the HELIOS-B trial show that RNA interference with vutrisiran reduces the risk of death and recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with transthyretin amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy.

Activation of a specific set of vagal sensory neurons connecting the ventricular wall of the heart to the area postrema in the brainstem causes mice to faint. This finding defines a cardiac reflex that recapitulates characteristics of human syncope.

The use of intravenous levothyroxine does not increase the likelihood of hearts being transplanted from haemodynamically unstable, brain-dead potential donors, suggesting that current practice recommendations should be revised.

Data from the ARIES-HM3 trial show that excluding aspirin from the antithrombotic regimen in patients with advanced heart failure and a left ventricular assist device reduces the number of bleeding events and does not increase the risk of thromboembolism.

In the NOTION-3 trial, percutaneous coronary intervention reduced the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events compared with conservative treatment in patients who were undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation for severe aortic stenosis and who had stable coronary artery disease.

Data from the phase IIb MUIR and ARCHES-2 trials show that RNA interference approaches that target either apolipoprotein C-III or ANGPTL3 significantly reduce plasma triglyceride levels in patients with mixed hyperlipidaemia.