Editorials
The LIMA: A Drug-Eluting Graft and Coronary Flow Shock Absorber
The primary challenge of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is the durability of graft patency. Patients with failed grafts experience an overall higher clinical event rate, with graft failure to the left anterior descending territory being the most detrimental.1 Aside from anastomotic technical issues, multiple mechanisms contribute to graft failure. They include patient-related risk profile, graft–coronary artery flow mismatch, target vessel anatomic features, hemodynamic factors, hypercoagulability, and biologic mechanisms involved in plaque formation and atherosclerosis progression.Decreasing Door-to-Diagnosis Time in Cardiac Amyloidosis: A Simple “One-Stop Shop” Approach
Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) remains a challenging disease to detect and to diagnose. Recent advancements in treatment necessitate more rapid diagnosis so that treatment can be initiated as early as possible. In this issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Bézard et al1 report on the real-life evaluation of an algorithm for the diagnosis of CA. The authors propose a “one-stop shop” approach to the diagnosis of CA by performing 4 tests simultaneously at the first day of a visit: serum and urine screening for monoclonal protein (MCP), nuclear cardiac scintigraphy, salivary gland biopsy, and DNA TTR testing.Brave New World: Improving Obesity and Preventing Cardiovascular Disease
For several decades, obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) have been rising in tandem so that today, they are worsening global pandemics with debilitating, expensive, and often lethal complications. The prevalence of T2D in the United States has risen more than 10-fold from 2.5 million in 1959 to more than 25 million in 2022.1 During the same time frame, obesity has risen 4-fold, so that now it affects 40% of US adults and is the leading cause of preventable disease and premature mortality. About 90% of people with T2D are overweight or obese, and traditional drugs for T2D, including insulin, sulfonylureas, and thiazolidinediones, cause further weight gain.Almost a Centenarian—Bold, Forward, and Networking
“Unlike in the past, there are now two kinds of people in the world: those who own and run the networks, and those who merely use them.”1Niall Ferguson
