Palaniappan, Latha P, Norrina B Allen, Zaid I Almarzooq, Cheryl A M Anderson, Pankaj Arora, Christy L Avery, Carissa M Baker-Smith, et al. (2026) 2026. “Correction To: 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of US and Global Data From the American Heart Association.”. Circulation 154 (5): e231-e232. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001469.
Publications
2026
Decker, Sérgio R R, Yang Song, Issa J Dahabreh, Robert W Yeh, and Dhruv S Kazi. (2026) 2026. “Long-Term Cardiovascular Outcomes in US Medicare Beneficiaries After COVID-19 Hospitalization During the Omicron Era.”. Circulation. Population Health and Outcomes, e012993. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.125.012993.
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 hospitalization in the pre-Omicron era was associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, but data from the Omicron era are sparse. We examined the risk of death and major adverse cardiovascular events among older adults hospitalized with COVID-19 during the Omicron era compared with the pre-Omicron era and a historical influenza cohort.
METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥65 years hospitalized for COVID-19 in the Omicron era (November 2021-September2022), COVID-19 in the pre-Omicron era (March 2020-November 2021), and influenza (October 2017-September 2018). The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause death and hospitalization for myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, heart failure, and cardiac arrest within 1 year of the index admission. We standardized the cohorts using inverse probability weighting.
RESULTS: We included 1 184 182 patients (mean age 79 years; 51% women):361 382 in the Omicron cohort, 731 455 in the pre-Omicron cohort, and 91 345 in the influenza cohort. The risk of the primary outcome in the Omicron cohort was lower than in the pre-Omicron cohort (48.8% versus 49.3%; standardized risk difference, -0.6% [95% CI, -0.8% to -0.3%]) but higher than in the influenza cohort (48.8% versus 33.4%; risk difference, 15.4% [15.1%-15.6%]). Compared with the pre-Omicron cohort, the Omicron cohort had a significantly lower risk of death (34.2% versus 39.7%; risk difference, -5.5% [-5.7% to -5.3%]) but a higher risk of myocardial infarction, stroke or transient ischemic attack, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, and heart failure.
CONCLUSIONS: Among older adults hospitalized with COVID-19, the risk of death within 1 year was lower, and the risk of major adverse cardiovascular event was higher in the Omicron era than the pre-Omicron era; however, the risk of either outcome was higher than after influenza hospitalization. These findings underscore the need for effective cardiovascular prevention strategies after a COVID-19 hospitalization.
Kazi, Dhruv S. (2026) 2026. “Seeing the Whole Elephant: Integrating Outcomes Research and Population Health.”. Circulation. Population Health and Outcomes 19 (7): e014034. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.126.014034.
Hammond, Michael M, Vaishnavi Krishnan, Lucia C Petito, Dhruv S Kazi, Sadiya S Khan, and Xiaoning Huang. (2026) 2026. “Trends in Usage and Payments for Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists in the United States, 2017 to 2022: A Nationally Representative Repeated Cross-Sectional Study.”. Journal of the American Heart Association, e046302. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.125.046302.
DeJong, Colette, Matthew S Durstenfeld, Jonathan D Davis, Christina S Wang, Elise D Riley, Mark D Huffman, Matthew D Hickey, et al. (2026) 2026. “Delivering Quadruple Therapy for Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction in a Customizable Polypill: The COMBO-HF-X Pilot Randomized Trial.”. JACC. Heart Failure, 103223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchf.2026.103223.
DeJong, Colette, Justin C Chen, Mansi Agarwal, Noelle LE Tourneau, Adam Hively, Elvin Geng, Matthew S Durstenfeld, et al. (2026) 2026. “Provider Preferences About a Polypill for Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: Development of a Multicenter Physician Survey Containing a Discrete Choice Experiment.”. Journal of Cardiac Failure - Intersections 2 (1): 3-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjcafi.2025.10.014.
BACKGROUND: Guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) reduces mortality rates but remains widely underused. A polypill for HFrEF has been proposed as an implementation strategy to improve GDMT delivery, but little is known about physicians' preferences in the design of HFrEF polypills. Discrete choice experiments (DCEs), in which survey respondents choose among hypothetical products, are a powerful tool in health economics research and can lend insight into key tradeoffs in HFrEF polypill design. However, the process of designing DCEs is complex and often poorly reported.
METHODS: We developed a survey instrument, including a DCE, through a 5-stage mixed-methods process including (1) literature review; (2) physician interviews and surveys; (3) attribute generation; (4) expert review; and (5) pilot testing. We applied a D-efficient design approach using a multinomial logic model to determine the number of choice tasks for the DCE.
RESULTS: We designed a DCE with 4 attributes: HFrEF polypill out-of-pocket cost, inclusion of an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, angiotensin receptor blocker, or sacubitril/valsartan, ancillary support for polypill prescribing, and pharmacy availability. The final survey will be distributed to cardiologists in academic and Veterans Administration medical centers across the United States.
CONCLUSIONS: Through a rigorous multistage design process leveraging mixed methods, we developed a DCE that elicits cardiologists' preferences about HFrEF polypills and key tradeoffs in their design. Results from this DCE study will directly inform future HFrEF polypill cluster-randomized clinical trials.
Doshi, Jalpa A, Matthew J Klebanoff, Maya Merchant, Pengxiang Li, and Dhruv S Kazi. (2026) 2026. “PCSK9 Inhibitor Price Reductions and Medicare Part D Utilization and Spending.”. JAMA Cardiology. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamacardio.2026.1931.
Ndumele, Chiadi E, Fatima Rodriguez, Dave L Dixon, Sadiya S Khan, Debabrata Mukherjee, Mandeep Bajaj, Sripal Bangalore, et al. (2026) 2026. “2026 AHA/ACC/ADA/ASN Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice…”. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 87 (22S): e1889-e2007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2026.03.056.
AIM: The "2026 AHA/ACC/ADA/ASN Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome" retires, replaces, and expands upon the "2013 AHA/ACC/TOS Guideline for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults." The primary intended audience for this guideline is clinicians who care for patients across the spectrum of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, an interrelated condition characterized by the interconnections among metabolic risk factors (including obesity and type 2 diabetes), chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease.
METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted from October 29, 2024, to April 14, 2025, to identify clinical studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and other evidence conducted on human subjects that were published since 2015 in English from MEDLINE (through PubMed), EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and other selected databases relevant to this guideline.
STRUCTURE: The focus of this clinical practice guideline is to create a living, working document that provides current knowledge in the field of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome aimed at all practicing cardiologists, endocrinologists, nephrologists, and primary care and specialty clinicians who manage these patients.
Shah, Kavya M, Kushal T Kadakia, Dhruv S Kazi, Robert W Yeh, and Rishi K Wadhera. (2026) 2026. “Direct-to-Patient Prescription Drug Platforms: What Should Cardiologists Know?”. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2026.04.048.
Members, Writing Committee, Chiadi E Ndumele, Fatima Rodriguez, Dave L Dixon, Sadiya S Khan, Debabrata Mukherjee, Mandeep Bajaj, et al. (2026) 2026. “2026 AHA/ACC/ADA/ASN Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice…”. Circulation. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001453.
AIM: The "2026 AHA/ACC/ADA/ASN Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome" retires, replaces, and expands upon the "2013 AHA/ACC/TOS Guideline for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults." The primary intended audience for this guideline is clinicians who care for patients across the spectrum of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, an interrelated condition characterized by the interconnections among metabolic risk factors (including obesity and type 2 diabetes), chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease.
METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted from October 29, 2024, to April 14, 2025, to identify clinical studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and other evidence conducted on human subjects that were published since 2015 in English from MEDLINE (through PubMed), EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and other selected databases relevant to this guideline.
STRUCTURE: The focus of this clinical practice guideline is to create a living, working document that provides current knowledge in the field of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome aimed at all practicing cardiologists, endocrinologists, nephrologists, and primary care and specialty clinicians who manage these patients.