November 25, 2025: Clonal Hematopoiesis, Alcohol and Blood Pressure, Long-Term Risk, and Emerging Biomarkers | JACC This Week
JACC This Week
JACC’s November 25, 2025 issue kicks off Thanksgiving week with JACC Editor-in-Chief Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, reflecting on his editor’s page and the day he became a doctor (0:12). For original research articles, he discusses a study on colchicine & clonal hematopoiesis, an exploratory study of the LoDoCo2 trial (1:10), and a paired editorial comment with more perspectives and a reminder of the upcoming COLCOT trial (4:33). Next, a study on Lp(a) and IL-6 (4:54) and an editorial (6:12), 30-year CVD risk percentiles based on the PREVENT equations (6:30), and an accompanying...
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November 18, 2025: Adiposity, Heart Failure, and the Future of Cardiometabolic Care | JACC This Week
JACC This Week
In the November 18, 2025 issue of JACC, Editor-in-Chief Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, FACC, uses his editor's page to reflect on the evolving role of editors as partners with authors in strengthening cardiovascular science. The issue itself centers on adiposity, featuring multiple pooled analyses showing that waist-to-height ratio and waist circumference outperform BMI in predicting heart failure and mortality risk. Other highlights include a meta-analysis confirming GLP-1 receptor agonists’ broad cardiovascular benefits, new insights into obesity’s impact on biomarkers and disease...
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November 11, 2025: Precision, Place, and the Future of Cardiovascular Prediction | JACC This Week
JACC This Week
In this week’s JACC podcast, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Harlan Krumholz explores how context, precision, and physiology converge to shape modern cardiovascular care. He opens with an editorial on “The Geography Gap,” challenging the one-size-fits-all approach to cardiovascular risk models that ignore geographic variation in disease outcomes. Other featured studies in this issue include trials (OCEAN Mitral, PULSE), optimizing outcomes after transcatheter mitral repair, plus uncovering genetic links between placental malperfusion and congenital heart disease, evaluating CT angiography follow-up...
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November 4, 2025: The 2025 Hypertension Guideline: A New Era in Blood Pressure Control | JACC This Week
JACC This Week
In this special episode of JACC This Week, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Harlan Krumholz introduces the November 4, 2025 issue, entirely devoted to hypertension and the landmark 2025 HAC Multi-Society High Blood Pressure Guideline. He discusses key updates—from reaffirming lower blood pressure targets and expanding out-of-office monitoring to integrating hypertension within the cardio-kidney-metabolic framework. Dr. Krumholz highlights expert commentaries covering policy, technology, therapeutics, and prevention, emphasizing how this forward-looking issue aims to move beyond publication toward true...
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October 28.2025: How Low Should We Go? | JACC This Week
JACC This Week
Dr. Harlan Krumholz introduces a JACC issue unified around the question of how low to target blood pressure, highlighting growing evidence that aiming near 120 mm Hg improves cardiovascular outcomes without harming quality of life. Several studies from the STEP and ESPRIT trials show that intensive blood pressure control widens retinal arterioles, lowers stroke risk, enhances well-being, and remains safe even in older adults. Long-term follow-up data demonstrate that early initiation of intensive therapy provides lasting cardiovascular protection, while new analyses using the PREVENT equations...
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October 21, 2025 - The Adipokine Hypothesis, Adipose-Cardiac Signaling, Sex Differences, Therapeutic Implications, and Diverse Populations | JACC This Week
JACC This Week
JACC Editor-in-Chief Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, introduces the October 21, 2025 issue of JACC, which is devoted entirely to Dr. Milton Packer’s adipokine hypothesis. Dr. Krumholz explains the rationale behind dedicating the issue to this bold conceptual framework, which proposes that dysfunctional visceral fat and its secreted adipokines drive HFpEF. We're also thrilled to present readers with 10 accompanying expert commentaries that explore, challenge, and contextualize the hypothesis.
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October 14, 2025 - Emerging Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine: From Certification Reform to Inflammation Targeting | JACC This Week
JACC This Week
This episode of JACC This Week, hosted by Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, highlights key research and perspectives from the October 14, 2025 issue of JACC. It opens with a call to modernize physician certification by distinguishing core knowledge from clinical reasoning, emphasizing continuous, engaging learning over rote memorization. Featured studies in this week's issue include the cardiovascular risks linked to clonal hematopoiesis in older women, improved clotting outcomes with third-generation LVADs despite ongoing bleeding risks, and how dapagliflozin reduces heart failure events post-TAVI...
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October 7, 2025: AI in Scientific Writing and New Frontiers in Cardiovascular Care | JACC This Week
JACC This Week
In the October 7, 2025 issue of JACC, Editor-in-Chief Harlan Krumholz discusses how artificial intelligence can enhance clarity in scientific writing—serving as a tool, not a ghostwriter—while maintaining author accountability. A major study shows that nearly all cardiovascular events occur in people with at least one risk factor, reinforcing the need for early detection and management. Emerging research highlights a percutaneous “debulking” technique that may safely manage infected cardiac device leads, and a revived cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor showing...
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Computable Quality, Community Screening, and TAVR Debate | JACC This Week
JACC This Week
In the September 30 issue of JACC, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Harlan Krumholz explores the concept of "computable quality" in healthcare, advocating for real-time, data-driven improvement in clinical care. He reviews original research on pop-up cardiovascular screenings in pharmacies and sporting events, AI-driven echocardiographic automation, and anticoagulation in pulmonary arterial hypertension. The episode also features a three-part debate on transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in low-risk patients, highlighting evolving evidence, clinical implications, and calls for guideline...
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AI, Polygenic Risk Scores, and Antithrombotic Therapy | JACC This Week
JACC This Week
In this episode, Editor-in-Chief Harlan Krumholz explores the evolving landscape of cardiovascular medicine, beginning with a call for responsible stewardship of artificial intelligence. Highlights include a major registry study on percutaneous aspiration for right-sided endocarditis, the predictive power of polygenic risk scores in heart failure, and the diverse causes of myocardial infarction in younger adults—especially women. The episode also covers a randomized trial on Intensive versus conventional intraoperative blood pressure management on cardiovascular events after major abdominal...
info_outlineIn this JACC Deep Dive, Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, FACC reviews a study by Covani, et al that uses OCT imaging in over 1,500 ACS patients to show how increasing cardiovascular risk factor burden—like smoking, diabetes, and hypertension—is strongly associated with vulnerable plaque features such as thin caps, inflammation, and rupture. The findings were most pronounced in STEMI patients and reinforce the biological impact of cumulative risk. Reviewers found the core results intuitive but pushed for deeper mechanistic insights, leading to a stronger final paper with improved clarity, additional analyses, and a more nuanced understanding of how traditional risk factors shape plaque instability.