Videos

PCSK9 Forum Editor Professor Henry Ginsberg discusses FOURIER

Countdown to FOURIER: What are the implications for patients?

Countdown to FOURIER: What are the implications for patients? PCSK9 Forum Editor Professor Anthony Wierzbicki gives his view.

Could PCSK9 inhibitors be used in FH children?

Prof Philip Barter gives his view.

Looking to FOURIER: What do the trials tell us about LDL lowering and cardiovascular events?

Presentation of full results from the FOURIER cardiovascular outcomes trial with the PCSK9 monoclonal antibody evolocumab is imminent. Here, PCSK9 Forum Editor Professor Anthony Wierzbicki (Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London UK) looks back over more than 25 years of trials of LDL…

Looking back at 2016: What made the news?

PCSK9 Forum Editor Professor John Chapman reviews the ups and downs of LDL lowering news in 2016. The Highlights GLAGOV (Global Assessment of Plaque Regression with a PCSK9 Antibody as Measured by Intravascular Ultrasound) (1) would have to feature very much in the forefront of…

PCSK9 inhibitors: cardiovascular benefit vs. diabetes risk

Two published Mendelian randomization studies have provided insights into potential long-term effects of PCSK9 inhibition. The studies follow hot on the heels of the GLAGOV study, which showed that treatment with evolocumab on top of statin induced atherosclerosis regression compared with statin alone (1). According…

Anthony Wierzbicki, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospitals, London discusses the implications of key trials at AHA 2016

Anthony Wierzbicki, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospitals, London discusses the implications of key trials at AHA 2016 GLAGOV ORION

Heart UK statement on homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia places PCSK9 inhibitors as second‑line treatment

Although homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH, inherited high cholesterol) is rare, the severity of the condition underlines the need for an aggressive approach to management. This statement from Heart UK has weighed up the evidence for all three treatment modalities – pharmacotherapy, lipoprotein apheresis and liver…

SAFEHEART: Consider more than coronary complications in FH

The Spanish Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Cohort Study (SAFEHEART) has highlighted the prevalence and different distribution of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in individuals with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH, inherited high cholesterol). In particular, coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease were more prevalent among those with FH than…

PCSK9 inhibitors: How do we weigh up the benefit versus cost of treatment?

PCSK9 Forum Editor, Professor Henry Ginsberg (Columbia University, New York, USA) offers a pragmatic perspective about cost-effectiveness analyses for the use of PCSK9 monoclonal antibody therapy in high risk patients.

ODYSSEY ESCAPE: a view from PCSK9 Forum

PCSK9 Forum News Editor, Dr Peter Lansberg (Amsterdam Medical Center, the Netherlands) discusses ODYSSEY ESCAPE and the implications for the management of heterozygous familial hypercholesterlaemia patients with severely elevated LDL cholesterol levels despite maximal LDL lowering therapy.

News: International Atherosclerosis Society consensus statement on severe familial hypercholesterolaemia

In this new statement, the International Atherosclerosis Society (IAS) has placed phenotype at the heart of management strategies for familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH, inherited high cholesterol). Commenting, lead author Dr. Raul Santos (University of São Paulo Medical School Hospital and Preventive Medicine Centre and Cardiology Program,…

Is lipoprotein(a) a cause of clinical familial hypercholesterolaemia?

Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH, inherited high cholesterol) is a common autosomal dominant condition which is characterized by raised LDL cholesterol, family history of dyslipidaemia, and early onset of coronary heart disease. Beyond mutations in the LDLR, APOB and PCSK9 genes, a new study from the University…

Low LDL-C, PCSK9 and dementia risk?

An ongoing debate among the experts is whether the very low levels of LDL cholesterol with PCSK9 inhibitor treatment might be associated with neurocognitive events. In fact, the debate predates the PCSK9 inhibitors, with statins linked with cognitive impairment (1-4). However, when the statin data…

TAUSSIG: Does adding evolocumab reduce cardiovascular events in homozygous FH?

84th European Atherosclerosis Society Congress, 29 May- 1 June, Innsbruck, Austria Patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH, inherited high cholesterol) are at extremely high risk of premature cardiovascular events due to the burden of elevated LDL cholesterol. Indeed, cardiovascular death at an early age is…

Changing the message on LDL cholesterol: Lifetime exposure is key

84th European Atherosclerosis Society Congress, 29 May – 1 June, Innsbruck, Austria Until recently, the emphasis in clinical care has been to lower LDL cholesterol to the recommended goal, or even below these limits, as investigated with the PCSK9 inhibitors. However, in his Key Note…

ESC Congress 2015 buzz: Novel LDL lowering treatments

Professor Steve Nicholls, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia discusses the PCSK9 inhibitors versus CETP inhibitors

Hot Topic siRNA and PCSK9

Dr Peter Lansberg, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands discusses this novel approach to PCSK9 targeting.

ODYSSEY 78 week HeFH data: Clinical perspectives

PCSK9 monoclonal antibody therapy has been shown to be highly efficacious in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH, inherited high cholesterol). However, as patients will require treatment in the long-term, efficacy and safety data are needed. The recent publication of 78 week data from the…

PCSK9 therapeutics – the next story?

Results from a Phase I trial of a new approach to PCSK9 therapeutics, small interfering RNA (siRNA) were presented at ESC Congress 2015. Professor Steve Nicholls, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia discusses the findings and potential clinical implications of this strategy: what would be the…