Focus on somatic mutations and cardiovascular risk, upper extremity artery disease, drug-coated balloons, and new therapeutic targets for restenosis

The authors note that ischaemic heart disease remains the leading cause of death globally, according to the World Health Organization.Here, they summarize the top 10 papers in 2024 that they think may help facilitate better classification, detection, risk stratification, and, ultimately, treatment of patients with ischaemic heart disease.In a Viewpoint article entitled 'Takotsubo is an acute myocardial ischaemic syndrome', Robert Sykes, Daniel Ang, and Colin Berry from the University of Glasgow, UK contend that Takotsubo is primarily an acute myocardial ischaemic syndrome rather than primarily acute heart failure, dilated cardiomyopathy, or an acute coronary syndrome. 2The authors summarize the evolving scientific knowledge on the pathophysiology of Takotsubo syndrome, notably on coronary microvascular dysfunction, and make the case for developing mechanistically targeted vasculoprotective therapy for this condition.There is growing interest in drug-coated balloons (DCB). [3][4]4][5] In a Fast Track Clinical Research article entitled 'Individual patient data meta-analysis of paclitaxel-coated balloons vs drug-eluting stents for small-vessel coronary artery disease: the ANDROMEDA study', Simone Fezzi from the Verona University Hospital in Italy, and colleagues indicate that in randomized clinical trials of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for de novo small-vessel coronary artery disease (SV-CAD), paclitaxel-coated