The FDA's recent addition of a cardiovascular indication for diabetes drug empagliflozin is a significant milestone in diabetes care, says Dr Anne Peters.

Dr John Mandrola discusses add-on LAA closure during cardiac surgery, inappropriate ICD shocks, dietary trends, life expectancy, and the Cures Bill in this week's podcast.

Although they aren't FDA-approved yet, high-sensitivity troponin assays may soon replace traditional troponin assays for detecting acute MIs. Drs Gulati and Jaffe discuss the implications.

Drs Mandrola and Piccini compare the SMAC AF trial with the ARREST-AF trial on risk factor modification to improve catheter ablation success rates in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Subclinical AF, chest-pain evaluation, proton-pump inhibitors and stroke risk, dabigatran-statin interactions, and Watchman are topics discussed by Dr John Mandrola in this week's podcast.

Presentations from the recent AHA meeting on PCSK9 drugs, CABG, statins, TAVR, NSAIDs, and prevention of bleeding in AF patients undergoing PCI are reviewed in this week's podcast.

UPDATED with Transcript // PRECISION, PIONEER-AF-PCI, ART, EUCLID, and the cognition substudy of HOPE-3 are the five stars, but the panel also reviews additional trials on novel approaches to lipids management and heart failure.

The US election, ACE/ARB use before noncardiac surgery, TAVR embolic-protection devices, AHA preview, and the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device are discussed by Dr Mandrola this week.

The SENTINEL trial on embolic protection during transcatheter aortic valve replacement did not meet its primary endpoint, but Drs Mack and Jolly are not ready to rule out a benefit for the strategy.

A TCT-heavy podcast discusses surgery vs stents in left main disease, bioabsorbable stents, left atrial appendage closure, point-of-care ultrasound, and PCI results in women and minorities.