Saving millions of lives and rapidly evolving, clinical cardiology research is one of the most popular areas of clinical research. The main driving force of cardiological research is backed-up by evidence-based medicine, which focuses on the results of clinical trials.
According to the trends and discussions in cardiovascular conferences around the world, the most popular topic remains anticoagulant drugs and their development. Various cardiology clinical trials (COMPASS, AUGUSTUS) suggest their critical role in preventing thrombotic events in patients with cardiovascular disease, especially in cases where patients also have such thrombogenic conditions as atrial fibrillation. Since the percentage of people who have been prescribed anticoagulants (such as Rivaroxaban, Apixaban, Dabigatran or others) has risen after their introduction to the market, the use of these drugs remains suboptimal. This calls for further research and development with the help of cardiology clinical trials.
Another popular field of cardiovascular research is the treatment of hyperlipidemia. Development of such drugs like PCSK9 inhibitors (ODYSSEY trial) will empower patients and doctors to prevent more acute coronary events. When modern cholesterol lowering therapies are implemented, morbidity and mortality have been showed to decrease, paving a way for a new era of the treatment of cholesterol. With the influx of “wearable” devices on the market, a whole new prospect for medical tracking and its part in disease prevention calls for significant interest. This worldwide phenomenon instigated such major trials as the Apple Heart Study, which enrolled over 400,000 subjects. This trial was highly innovative with virtual subject recruitment combined with virtual study design. The aim was to evaluate the promise of new specialized software in detecting abnormal heart rhythm. With the accessibility of novel biometric devices, further clinical trials may help in the translation of all the patient-generated data to better clinical outcomes.