Aspirin for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Diabetes: a Review of the Evidence.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: People with diabetes are at a higher risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) compared with those without diabetes. Though aspirin has been shown to have an overall net clinical benefit when used for secondary prevention of ASCVD in people with and without diabetes, the evidence for primary prevention, especially in those with diabetes, remains inconsistent. In this article, we review the latest studies examining the risks and benefits of aspirin use for primary prevention of ASCVD in adults with diabetes, discuss key aspects in assessing the risk-benefit ratio of aspirin use for primary prevention of ASCVD, and summarize current guidelines from professional societies on aspirin use for primary prevention in adults with diabetes. RECENT FINDINGS: In the general population, past studies have shown no difference in the beneficial effect of aspirin for primary cardiovascular disease prevention by diabetes status. However, several randomized controlled studies and meta-analyses in adults with diabetes have shown lack of net clinical benefit of aspirin use for primary prevention of ASCVD. The recent ASCEND trial documented cardiovascular benefit of aspirin for primary prevention in adults with diabetes but suggested that the increased risk of bleeding may outweigh the cardiovascular benefit. The decision to initiate aspirin for primary prevention of ASCVD must be considered carefully on an individual basis to balance the cardiovascular benefit and bleeding risk in all patients, especially those with diabetes. A multifactorial approach that focuses on managing ASCVD risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, dysglycemia, and smoking is recommended in all patients. More research is needed to identify subgroups of people with diabetes who are more likely to benefit from aspirin use for primary prevention of ASCVD and develop better antithrombotic strategies that shift the risk-benefit balance toward an overall net clinical benefit.

Application of the very high risk criterion and evaluation of cholesterol guideline adherence in acute myocardial infarction patients at an urban academic medical center.

Objective: The 2018 AHA/ACC cholesterol guidelines recommend considering non-statin agents among very high-risk (VHR) patients with LDL-C ≥ 70 mg/dL after maximizing statin therapy. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of VHR status in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients at hospital discharge and the adherence to guideline-directed cholesterol therapy (GDCT) within one-year follow-up post-AMI. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients who suffered a type 1 AMI between October 2015 and March 2019, and then were followed at our institution for 1 year after hospital discharge. We calculated the percentage of patients at VHR and among those with follow up lipid panels, we determined the proportion able to achieve GDCT. Results: The mean age of the 331 AMI patients was 61.0 (SD 11.9) years and 33.6% were women. Overall, 268 (81.0%) patients were categorized as having VHR at discharge. Among patients at VHR, a lipid panel was rechecked in 153 individuals (57.1%) within 1 year of discharge, with the median time to lipid recheck being 22.4 weeks (interquartile range: 10.9-40.7 weeks). Among those with a lipid panel re-check, 100 (65.4%) of patients achieved GDCT. Conclusions: Approximately 4 out of 5 AMI patients were considered VHR per the 2018 AHA/ACC guidelines, only about half had follow up lipid panels in the year following AMI, and about two-thirds of those with follow up lipid panels achieved GDCT.

Novel Presentation of Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia With Homozygous Variants in Both LDLR and APOB Genes.

This case report describes a 50-year-old-woman from Southeast Asia with extensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, found to have homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia caused by variants of uncertain significance in both the APOB and LDLR genes. Medications were insufficient, and thus LDL apheresis was initiated to further decrease LDL-C. (Level of Difficulty: Beginner.).