A weekly co-hosted podcast featuring JACC Editor-in-Chief Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, FACC and JACC Senior Consulting Editor Carolyn S.P. Lam, MBBS, PhD, giving readers context on our weekly issues. Listen in as they break down the latest trends and share practical tips that are changing the way heart care works globally.
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In this special Season 2 wrap-up of JACC This Week, Dr. Harlan Krumholz and Dr. Carolyn Lam reflect on the pilot season, the energy of ACC.26, and what they've learned from listeners along the way. From quick journal highlights to deeper editorial conversations, they discuss the different ways audiences want to engage with JACC content—and why the next iteration of the podcast will continue evolving with listener feedback in mind. Thank you for listening, sharing your thoughts, and being part of...
This week's edition of JACC This Week brings Dr. Carolyn Lam and Dr. Harlan Krumholz into a deep exploration of a special issue devoted to innovative cardiovascular research emerging from China. As they highlight newly published studies and their global significance, they reflect on how scientific progress accelerates when discoveries are shared across regions and cultures. Their conversation reinforces a central message: advancing cardiovascular health requires collective effort, open exchange,...
Drs. Carolyn Lam and Harlan Krumholz unpack new JACC research on cardiometabolic health, highlighting how COVID‑19 shaped cardiovascular care, mortality patterns, and disparities. They also break down updated evidence on PREVENT risk equations in young adults, gaps in lipid testing and statin use, and what these findings mean for modern cardiovascular prevention and population health. JACC This Week — impactful science with global insights.
In this episode, Dr. Carolyn Lam and Dr. Harlan Krumholz break down key studies from this week's JACC issue, including new evidence on Chagas‑related heart failure, updated diastolic function guidelines, and the connection between cardiomyopathy gene variants and atrial fibrillation. They also discuss findings on racial and ethnic disparities in England's universal health system and reflect on how emerging AI tools could transform cardiovascular care. A concise, insightful look at major advances...
Dr. Carolyn Lam and Dr. Harlan Krumholz sit down with Dr. Rishi Wadhera to unpack the first-ever JACC Cardiovascular Statistics issue. They explore why this annual report matters, the key trends in U.S. cardiovascular health, and what clinicians should take away about hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and heart‑failure patterns. The discussion highlights implementation gaps, disparities, and how data can guide action in heart health.
In this episode of JACC This Week, Dr. Carolyn Lam and Dr. Harlan Krumholz spotlight a mini-focus issue on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a field undergoing rapid transformation. The discussion centers on the MAPLE-HCM trial comparing aficamten and metoprolol in symptomatic obstructive HCM, highlighting multidomain response analysis and what it means to measure meaningful improvement. Beyond gradients and biomarkers, the conversation explores a critical question: when physiologic surrogates ...
This episode spotlights the 2025 Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) Guidelines, framed by the concept of transitioning from mere survival to comprehensive stewardship in specialized cardiovascular care. It highlights how medical advances necessitate lifelong, coordinated management and scalable expertise. The discussion also covers key guideline updates, including risk classification and long-term surveillance, along with other critical research presented in the issue.
This bonus episode continues the conversation from the JACC Women's Cardiovascular Health Issue, moving from science to systems. In this extended discussion, Drs. Carolyn Lam and Harlan Krumholz are joined by Sarah Krumholz to reflect on how the culture and structure of cardiology shape the experiences of women in training and practice.
In this episode of JACC This Week, Dr. Carolyn Lam and Dr. Harlan Krumholz explore the JACC Women's Cardiovascular Health Issue—an edition dedicated to advancing science, care, and professional culture for women in cardiology. The discussion spans original research and viewpoints addressing menopause and cardio-oncology risk, sex differences in dilated cardiomyopathy, device trials, rehabilitation after heart failure, global disparities, and the intersection of sex, race, and socioeconomic statu...
This JACC This Week episode delves into a special issue on cardiac amyloidosis, a rapidly evolving field. Drs. Lam and Krumholz discuss new evidence revealing median diagnostic delays of 490 days, especially for complex patients, and how mortality benefits diverge early with timely treatment. The episode emphasizes "computable diagnosis" as a moral imperative to leverage digital data for early identification, address operational challenges, and ensure equitable access to life-saving therapies.
Welcome to the new season of JACC This Week! In this episode, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Harlan Krumholz is joined by co-host Dr. Carolyn Lam to kick off a refreshed, more conversational era of the podcast. Together, they reflect on the evolution of the show, approach to thematic curation, and introduce the February 3 issue of JACC, curated around valve heart disease. The discussion explores JACC's approach to thematic issues, the importance of timely publication, and how emerging evidence is shifting ...
In the December 2, 2025 episode of JACC This Week, Editor-in-Chief Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, introduces the Spotlight Issue, anchored by the manuscript " Global, Regional, and National Burden of Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Factors in 204 Countries and Territories, 1990–2023 ." Listen here as he reviews the issue and gives listeners perspective on the issue as a whole, which contains 19 viewpoints providing perspectives from experts around the world, plus his editor's page , aligned with a ...
JACC's latest issue explores key cardiovascular topics, starting with colchicine's potential modulation of clonal hematopoiesis. It investigates the combined impact of Lp(a) and IL-6 on CVD risk and introduces new age and sex-specific 30-year risk percentiles. The episode also highlights research challenging light alcohol consumption, showing even modest intake increases blood pressure, and examines remnant cholesterol as a significant risk factor in young adults. Brief reports on RSV vaccine, long COVID, and lipid-lowering therapies conclude the discussion.
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...
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 bet...
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 pre...
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 intensiv...
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.
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...
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 devi...
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-ris...
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 con...
In this episode, Dr. Harlan Krumholz introduces the September 16, 2025 issue of JACC, which features studies that challenge conventional clinical thinking, including a detailed ECMO physiology study showing that higher ECMO flow does not uniformly raise pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, suggesting the need for individualized management. A novel analysis of the ISCHEMIA trial revealed distinct angina symptom trajectories, emphasizing that recovery is not binary and supporting a more personalize...
In this episode, Dr. Harlan Krumholz reviews the September 9, 2025 issue of JACC, covering key studies on artificial intelligence in cardiovascular research, the effects of tirzepatide in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), and how social, racial, and genetic factors influence heart failure risk. He discusses the growing burden of heart failure in the elderly, the need to disaggregate data in Asian American and Pacific Islander populations, and the role of rare genetic varian...
In the September 2, 2025 JACC This Week, Editor-in-Chief Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, FACC highlights the issue. Listen here for a summary of our latest content, including new research on cognitive dysfunction in adults with congenital heart disease, a review of calcific aortic valve stenosis, and insights into cardiologists' own lifestyle habits. We also have an article on the limitations of binary thresholds in cardiovascular risk assessment, as well as several articles reprinted from across th...
In this week's issue, Dr. Harlan Krumholz highlights new science with direct clinical implications: a randomized trial showing conduction system pacing outperforms RV pacing in AV block, a pragmatic study suggesting HEPA filtration may modestly lower blood pressure, and long-term data from FLAVOR comparing FFR and IVUS-guided PCI. Also featured are a state-of-the-art review on heart failure therapy implementation, a brief report refining NT-proBNP thresholds for pre–heart failure, and an updated...
In this episode of JACC This Week, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Harlan Krumholz explores device safety, abbreviated DAPT, drug-coated balloons, and a novel surgical polymer valve. Plus: expert insights on cardiovascular innovation, obesity management, fellowship signaling, and more.
In this mini focus issue of JACC This Week, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Harlan Krumholz explores the evolving landscape of cardiac amyloidosis care. From structural and biomarker findings in the HELIOS-B substudy to broader discussions on access, treatment sequencing, and multidisciplinary care, this episode highlights new momentum in ATTR-CM management. Also covered: a sham-controlled trial on compression therapy for vasovagal syncope and pooled trial data on DOAC use in frail older adults with atrial ...
Hosts Mitsuaki Sawano, MD, Shun Kohsaka, MD, and Nobuhiro Ikemura, MD, welcome Yuichi Saito, MD, of Chiba University Hospital, to discuss recent trends in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) among Japan's oldest populations. Using data from the All-Japan Utstein Registry, Dr. Saito and the Japanese Circulation Society Resuscitation Science Study (JCS-ReSS) Group highlight that OHCA cases in nonagenarians are steadily increasing. Despite prehospital resuscitation efforts, outcomes—particularly ...
Hosts Mitsuaki Sawano, MD, Shun Kohsaka, MD, Kentaro Ejiri, MD, and Satoshi Shoji, MD, welcome Dr. Kunihiro Matsushita of Johns Hopkins University to discuss findings from the ARIC study on cumulative cardiovascular risk and healthy arterial aging. Dr. Matsushita highlights that maintaining favorable levels of cholesterol, blood pressure, and avoiding smoking from mid- to late-life is strongly associated with the absence of coronary artery calcium (CAC) at older age—a marker of healthy arterial ...