With Gregorio Tersalvi, Mayo Clinic, Rochester - USA, and Faiez Zannad, University of Lorraine, Nancy - France.   In this episode of HFA CardioTalk, Gregorio Tersalvi interviews Faiez Zannad on the future of trials in heart failure. Together, they explore how the landscape of heart failure trials has evolved, the major challenges in trial design today, the relevance of current and emerging outcomes, and the vision for the next decades of heart failure research. The discussion also touches on lessons learned from landmark trials and advice for young clinicians and researchers who aspire to become trialists.   Recommended readings:  Zannad F, Pitt B. The Future of Clinical Trials. Circulation 2024 Jun 4;149(23):1783-85. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.123.066982.   This 2025 HFA Cardio Talk podcast series is supported by Bayer AG in the form of an unrestricted financial support. The discussion has not been influenced in any way by its sponsor.

In this episode, we give a wrap-up of late-breaking clinical science presented at the ESC Congress 2025 in Madrid.

First, David Berg presents the DAPA ACT HF-TIMI 68 trial, reporting on dapagliflozin in patients hospitalized for acute heart failure, along with a meta-analysis of SGLT2 inhibitors in this setting.

Next, Javed Butler highlights results of the VICTOR trial, a large phase 3 study of vericiguat in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

Then, Andre Zimerman discusses the PhysioSync-HF trial, comparing conduction system pacing with biventricular resynchronization therapy in patients with HFrEF.

Finally, Kieran Docherty shares insights from a community-based study on the benefits of early initiation of disease-modifying therapy in suspected heart failure.

 

Additional information:

Topic 1:

With Gregorio Tersalvi, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN - USA, David Berg, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston - USA and Novi Yanti Sari, Siloam Hospitals Group, Jakarta - Indonesia

Results paper:

Dapagliflozin in Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure: Primary Results of the DAPA ACT HF-TIMI 68 Randomized Clinical Trial and Meta-Analysis of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors in Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure

Replay ESC Congress Hot Line: https://esc365.escardio.org/presentation/312142

Circulation. 2025 Aug 29. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.076575. 

 

Topic 2:

With Javed Butler, Baylor Scott & White Health, Dallas - USA and Henrike Arfsten, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna - Austria

Results papers:

Vericiguat in patients with chronic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (VICTOR): a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, phase 3 trial Lancet. 2025

Replay ESC Congress hotline: https://esc365.escardio.org/presentation/312148 doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01665-4. 

Vericiguat for patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction across the risk spectrum: an individual participant data analysis of the VICTORIA and VICTOR trials Lancet. 2025 Aug 29:S0140-6736(25)01682-4. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01682-4.

 

Topic 3:

With Andre Zimerman, Hospital Moinhos De Vento, Porto Alegre - Brazil and Floran Sahiti, University Hospital of Wurzburg, Wurzburg - Germany

Methods paper:

Conduction system pacing vs biventricular resynchronization in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and left bundle branch block: Rationale and design of the PhysioSync-HF Trial

Am Heart J. 2025 Dec:290:38-45.

Replay ESC Congress: https://esc365.escardio.org/session/50327 doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2025.06.002.

 

Topic 3:

With Kieran Docherty, University of Glasgow, Glasgow - UK and Jolie Bruno, Inserm UMR-S942, Paris - France

Results paper:

Benefit of early initiation of disease-modifying therapy in community-based patients with suspected heart failure

Eur Heart J. 2025 Aug 29:ehaf675. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf675. 

 

This 2025 HFA Cardio Talk podcast series is supported by Bayer AG in the form of an unrestricted financial support. The discussion has not been influenced in any way by its sponsor. 

Wtih Robert Mentz, Duke University, North Carolina - USA, and Cornelia Margineanu University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, Bucharest - Romania. 

A focused discussion and an update on the latest developments in iron deficiency — a journey from definition to outcomes through available therapeutic options. Not to be missed!

This 2025 HFA Cardio Talk podcast series is supported by Bayer AG in the form of an unrestricted financial support. The discussion has not been influenced in any way by its sponsor.

With Kevin Damman, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen - The Netherlands, Floran Sahiti, University Hospital of Wurzburg, Wurzburg - Germany, Joao Pedro Ferreira, University of Porto, Porto - Portugal, Novi Yanti Sari, Siloam Hospitals Group, Jakarta - Indonesia, Marat Fudim, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC - USA, Gregorio Tersalvi, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN - USA, Jose Luis Morales Rull, University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, Lleida - Spain and Cornelia Margineanu, Bucharest - Romania.

In this episode, we discuss four late-breaking clinical trials presented at the Heart Failure Congress 2025 in Belgrade, Serbia.

First, Kevin Damman presents the results of FUTURE-HF, a first-in-human study evaluating the long-term safety, accuracy, and clinical utility of a novel implantable IVC sensor for remote heart failure management.

Next, Joao Pedro Ferreira highlights the key findings of SOGALDI-PEF, a crossover trial comparing SGLT2 inhibitor monotherapy versus combination therapy with an SGLT2 inhibitor and a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) in reducing NT-proBNP levels.

Third, Marat Fudim reports on the MUSIC-HFpEF phase 1/2a trial, which explores the safety and preliminary efficacy of a novel gene therapy using adeno-associated virus vectors in patients with HFpEF.

Finally, Jose Luis Morales Rull shares insights from PREFER-HF, a study assessing the effects of intravenous or oral iron therapy versus placebo in patients with HFpEF and iron deficiency anemia.

1. FUTURE-HF: Long-term safety, accuracy, and utility of a novel implantable IVC sensor for remote HF management - Kevin Damman, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. Host: Floran Sahiti, University Hospital of Wurzburg, Wurzburg, Germany doi: 10.1016/j.jchf.2025.01.019.
2. SOGALDI-PEF: SOdium-Glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor with and without an ALDosterone AntagonIst for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction – Joao Pedro Ferreira, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. Host: Novi Yanti Sari, Siloam Hospitals Group, Jakarta (Indonesia). 
3. MUSIC-HFpEF: Gene therapy in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction – Marat Fudim, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA. Host: Gregorio Tersalvi, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
4. PREFER¬-HF: Effects intravenous iron or oral iron therapy compared to placebo in HFpEF with iron deficiency anemia - Jose Luis Morales Rull, University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, Lleida, Spain. Host: Cornelia Margineanu, Bucharest, Romania.

This 2025 HFA Cardio Talk podcast series is supported by Bayer AG in the form of an unrestricted financial support. The discussion has not been influenced in any way by its sponsor.

With Justyna Sokolska, Institute of Heart Diseases, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw - Poland, and Maja Cikes, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Head at the Unit for Heart Failure and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University Hospital Center, Zagreb - Croatia.

In this episode of HFA CardioTalk, Justyna Sokolska interviews Maja Cikes on the challenges in management of long-term left ventricular assist device in patients with advanced heart failure. The discussion emphasizes the importance of selecting appropriate patients at the optimal time, examines the adverse events and highlights major ongoing clinical trials. 

Recommended readings: 

Aspirin and Hemocompatibility Events With a Left Ventricular Assist Device in Advanced Heart Failure: The ARIES-HM3 Randomized Clinical Trial, Mehra MR, et al. JAMA. 2023 Dec 12;330(22):2171-81 

Trends and Outcomes of Left Ventricular Assist Device Therapy: JACC Focus Seminar, Varshney AS, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2022 Mar 22;79(11):1092-1107

Cardiac implantable electronic devices with a defibrillator component and all-cause mortality in left ventricular assist device carriers: results from the PCHF-VAD registry, Cikes M, et al. Eur J Heart Fail 2019 Sep;21(9):1129-41

A Fully Magnetically Levitated Left Ventricular Assist Device — Final Report, Mehra MR, et al. N Engl J Med 2019 Apr 25;380(17):1618-27

This 2025 HFA Cardio Talk podcast series is supported by Bayer AG in the form of an unrestricted financial support. The discussion has not been influenced in any way by its sponsor.

With Robert M.A. van der Boon, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam - The Netherlands, and Anuradha Lala, Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, New York City - USA.

In this episode of HFA Cardio talk, we dive into how factors like sex, socio-economics status and ethnicity shape the way heart failure presents and progresses in different populations. We’ll discuss why recognizing these differences is critical for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment and highlight practical steps clinicians can take to close the gaps in prevention and care.

Papers:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejhf.2534

https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/40/47/3859/5652224?login=true

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1071916421004322?via%3Dihub

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002914922010074?via%3Dihub

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468266719301082?via%3Dihub

https://journals.lww.com/co-cardiology/fulltext/2021/05000/racial_and_ethnic_disparities_in_heart_failure_.12.aspx

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ehf2.14986

 

This 2025 HFA Cardio Talk podcast series is supported by Bayer AG in the form of an unrestricted financial support. The discussion has not been influenced in any way by its sponsor.

With Henrique Arfsten, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna - Austria and Alexandre Mebazza, Hospital Lariboisiere, Paris - France. 

In this episode of HFA CardioTalk, Henrike Arfsten and  Alexandre Mebazaa discuss the importance of rapid initiation and titration of guideline-directed medical heart failure therapy.

A focus will be on data from the STRONG-HF trial, which demonstrated safety and efficacy of rapid up-titration following an acute heart failure event. The trial was even stopped early as the benefits of the intensive treatment strategy were overwhelming. Moreover, specific questions are raised, such as the right time to start therapy and how to deal with possible side effects.

Mebazaa A, et al. Lancet 2022 Dec 3;400(10367):1938-52

Biegus J, et al. Heart Fail Rev 2024 Sep;29(5):1065-1077

McDonagh TA, et al. Eur J Heart Fail 2022 Jan;24(1):4-131

McDonagh TA, et al. Eur J Heart Fail 2024 Jan;26(1):5-17

This 2025 HFA Cardio Talk podcast series is supported by Bayer AG in the form of an unrestricted financial support. The discussion has not been influenced in any way by its sponsor.

With Novi Yanti Sari, Siloam Hospitals, Jakarta - Indonesia, and Mark Petrie, Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow - UK.

In this episode of the HFA podcast series, we explore the complex relationship between obesity and heart failure, discussing challenges, management strategies, and the latest therapies, while emphasising the importance of integrated care in improving clinical outcomes.

This 2025 HFA Cardio Talk podcast series is supported by Bayer AG in the form of an unrestricted financial support. The discussion has not been influenced in any way by its sponsor.

With Jasper Brugts, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam - The Netherlands and Floran Sahiti, University Hospital Würzburg and Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Würzburg, Würzburg - Germany.

In this episode of the HFA Podcast Series, we will discuss telemonitoring in general, with a main focus on invasive monitoring in heart failure, the current evidence, and the advantages and disadvantages of the systems.

This 2025 HFA Cardio Talk podcast series is supported by Bayer AG in the form of unrestricted financial support. The discussion has not been influenced in any way by its sponsors.

With Daniella Motta da Costa Dan, University of São Paulo - Brazil, and Marianna Adamo, University of Brescia - Italy.

In this episode of HFA CardioTalk, Daniella Motta interviews Marianna Adamo on the controversies, consensus, and challenges surrounding revascularization in ischemic heart failure. The discussion highlights major clinical trials, emphasizes the importance of selecting appropriate patients, and examines the risks and benefits of revascularization in this context. Lastly, they address key updates from the latest ESC guidelines

This 2024 HFA CardioTalk podcast serie is supported by Novartis in the form of an educational grant. The discussion has not been influenced in any way by its sponsor.