EHRA

Cardiovascular medicine in 2025 has been marked by rapid innovation and meaningful shifts in clinical practice. In this year-in-review, touchCARDIO brings together expert reflections highlighting paradigm-changing trial data, the emergence of pulsed field ablation and conduction system pacing, advances in imaging and prevention, and the accelerating integration of artificial intelligence. Collectively, these perspectives underscore a field evolving toward more precise, technology-enabled and preventive cardiovascular care, while emphasising the need to translate scientific progress into improved outcomes for patients worldwide.

Between 29 August and 1 September 2025, Madrid hosted one of the most globally ambitious gatherings in cardiovascular medicine: ESC Congress 2025, held alongside the World Congress of Cardiology. Under the unifying theme “Cardiology Beyond Borders,” the meeting spotlighted how cardiovascular disease is woven into broader global health challenges — from disparities in care access to climate, pandemics and social determinants of health. With over 33,000 participants from 169 countries, the Congress set new attendance records and featured more than 190 studies released in tandem with leading journals.

Cardiac implantable electronic devices are undergoing rapid change, with conduction system pacing and new strategies for resynchronization therapy challenging long-standing standards. At ESC 2025, Dr Haran Burri highlights late-breaking trial data that could redefine best practice and underscores the importance of careful technique and training to translate these advances into meaningful patient benefit.

Conduction system pacing (CSP) is being increasingly adopted as a more physiological alternative to right ventricular and biventricular pacing and is an integral part of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) core curriculum for the device specialist.1–6 Left bundle branch ...

In this Q&A, he shares insights into his career journey, the experiences that shaped his path and what excites him most about the future of cardiology.

For decades, right ventricular pacing (RVP) has been the leading pacing technique and has been proven to be effective in treating patients with symptomatic bradycardia. However, dyssynchrony caused by non-physiological ventricular activation results in pacing-induced cardiomyopathy occurs in approximately 15% of ...

A significant proportion of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who have a high stroke risk are currently being treated with oral anticoagulation (OAC), including direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and vitamin K inhibitors (VKAs).1 It is well known that the increased ...

The OptiVALL study aimed to assess the atrioventricular synchronous pacing capabilities of the Micra AV device, and to describe what programming changes are needed. In this touchCARDIO interview, we speak with Dr Sem Briongos Figuero (Hospital Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain) ...

The MARVEL 2 trial studied atrioventricular synchronous pacing in patients with a Micra leadless ventricular pacemaker. In this touchCARDIO interview, we speak with Dr Sem Briongos Figuero (Hospital Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain) to discuss the trials studying atrioventricular synchrony and their ...