Cardiac Amyloidosis

With the first drug treatments for cardiac amyloidosis recently entering the market, there has been an explosion of interest to diagnose and care for these patients. It is considered a rare disease, but many experts now say it is actually just be under diagnosed. The disease is caused by protein misfolding. Normally soluble proteins in the bloodstream become insoluble and deposit abnormally in the tissues and organs throughout the body. There are three main kinds of amyloid that affect the heart, light chain amyloid (AL) and two types of transthyretin amyloid (ATTR or TTR). The first type of ATTR is hereditary, or familial amyloid, and the second is wild type, or age-related TTR amyloid. Nuclear imaging, echocardiography, CT and MRI all play roles in diagnosing amyloid and in determining the subtype, which is required for targeted treatment. 

pharmaceutical drug approval process

FDA approves acoramidis, BridgeBio’s new ATTR-CM drug

Acoramidis, a selective transthyretin stabilizer being sold under the brand name Attruby, is now the second ATTR-CM medication to gain FDA approval.

Daniel Judge, MD, director of the cardiovascular genetics program, Medical University of South Carolina, the Edwin W. and Teresa H. Rogers Endowed Chair for Cardiovascular Research, Medical University of South Carolina, presented the results of the late-breaking ATTRibute-CM study for the drug acoramidis used to treat transthyretin amyloidosis at AHA 2024.

ATTR-CM drug acoramidis, now approved by the FDA, linked to positive long-term data

Cardiovascular Business spoke with cardiologist Daniel Judge, MD, about the long-term benefits of acoramidis, a new drug therapy that just received FDA approval to treat transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy.

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has helped cardiologists, radiologists, nurses and other healthcare providers embrace precision medicine in a way that ensures more heart patients are receiving personalized care.

FDA clears AI screening tool for cardiac amyloidosis

Ultromics designed EchoGo Amyloidosis to evaluate routine echocardiogram results for signs of cardiac amyloidosis. It received the FDA's breakthrough device designation back in 2023.

doctor examines patient data on their tablet

FDA sees potential in new PET imaging agent for cardiac amyloidosis

Early evidence suggests a new PET imaging agent from California-based Attralus can help evaluate all varieties of systemic cardiac amyloidosis. It has now been granted the FDA's breakthrough therapy designation. 

The central illustration from a study that shows the impact of ECG AI algorithm study case and control selection to train artificial intelligence to better screening patients for cardiac amyloidosis. Image courtesy of JACC Advances.

Using ECG AI to find the cardiac amyloidosis needles in the haystack

Early detection of cardiac amyloidosis is leads to the best outcomes, but it is often missed until later stages. AI is being developed to help detect these patients earlier using ECG and echo.

Francisco Arabia, MD, Banner Health, explains trends in total artificial hearts (TAH) in advanced heart failure patients and what is coming in new technology.

Total artificial hearts: Exploring the future of heart transplant technology with a renowned surgeon

Francisco Arabia, MD, spoke with Cardiovascular Business about the present and future of total artificial heart technology.

Jeremy Slivnick, MD, presents at the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) 2023 meeting on how artificial intelligence (AI) can help make echocardiography better able to detect subtle signs of early cardiac amyloid disease when it is easier to treat with better outcomes. ssistant professor of medicine and an advanced cardiac imager at the University of Chicago.

AI models for cardiac amyloidosis could make a world of difference

Jeremy Slivnick, MD, spoke with Cardiovascular Business about AI's potential to transform how cardiac amyloidosis is diagnosed and treated. 

Jamie Bourque, MD, medical director of the nuclear cardiology and stress laboratory, and medical director of the echocardiography lab, at the University of Virginia, discusses a new multimodality consensus statement for imaging cardiac amyloidosis. This area has rapidly expanded over the past couple years now that there are drugs to treat the condition.

New ASNC quality metrics will support standardization of imaging for cardiac amyloidosis

Interest in cardiac amyloidosis has been on the rise in recent years. Jamie Bourque, MD, talked to Cardiovascular Business about an upcoming consensus statement focused on using cardiac imaging to evaluate patients for signs of this serious condition. 

Around the web

Several key trends were evident at the Radiological Society of North America 2024 meeting, including new CT and MR technology and evolving adoption of artificial intelligence.

Ron Blankstein, MD, professor of radiology, Harvard Medical School, explains the use of artificial intelligence to detect heart disease in non-cardiac CT exams.