At ESC Congress 2026, Dr Rami Abu Fanne (Hillel Yaffe Medical Center and Hadassah Medical Center, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) presented an analysis exploring whether baseline vitamin D levels were associated with metabolic response to semaglutide in people with type 2 diabetes. The study included 5,300 adults and found that higher baseline vitamin D levels were associated with greater improvements in glycemic control and BMI after 12 months of treatment, although no association was observed with lipid outcomes. Dr Abu Fanne spoke to touchCARDIO about the findings and the questions they raise for future research.

ESC Congress 2026 begins in Munich on August 28, bringing four days of new cardiovascular research, clinical guidance and discussion. Early data released ahead of the meeting provide a first look at some of the science to come.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (Carlsbad, CA, USA) and AstraZeneca (Cambridge, UK) have announced that the phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform trial (NCT04136171) of eplontersen (Wainua®; Ionis Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca) did not meet its primary efficacy endpoint in adults with transthyretin-mediated amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM).

A proteomic analysis presented as late-breaking research at ENDO 2026 found that treatment with lorundrostat was associated with reductions in several circulating biomarkers linked to heart failure risk in patients with uncontrolled hypertension.

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in young adults (typically defined as individuals younger than 40 years) has emerged as an important yet under-recognized public health concern. Recent estimates suggest an incidence of approximately 1–4 cases per 100,000 person-years, underscoring the clinical and epidemiological relevance ...

At ACC26, William Fearon and Ajay Kirtane presented a large randomized trial, showing angiography-derived coronary physiology is noninferior to pressure wire–guided PCI, with added procedural efficiency and potential to expand physiologic assessment in routine practice.

Hypertension affects over 1.4 billion adults worldwide and remains the leading modifiable risk factor for global cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality. It is responsible for an estimated 10.8 million deaths annually and contributes significantly to the global burden of ischaemic heart disease, ...

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.