News & Updates

Prioritizing herpes zoster prevention in patients with chronic diseases or immune-compromised conditions

Advanced age, chronic comorbidity, and immunodeficiency are established risk factors for herpes zoster (HZ). HZ is a debilitating condition that poses a significant burden on patients’ quality of life and the economy and has a bidirectional relationship with cardiovascular disease (CVD). At the 28^th Hong Kong Medical Forum (HKMF), Professor Kai-Hang Yiu of the Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, presented an overview of the public health impact of HZ in high-risk patients with immunocompromised conditions or chronic diseases and discussed the long-term effectiveness of adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) against HZ.

SGLT2i as 1L therapy for CKD: How to optimize real-world prescription?

Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) 2024 clinical practice guideline recommends sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) as first-line (1L) therapy for most patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), with or without diabetes. Despite the established cardiorenal benefits of SGLT2i, prescription remains suboptimal in real-world CKD populations. At Advances in Medicine (AIM) 2024, Professor Jennifer Green of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, US, discussed empagliflozin’s cardiorenal benefits in broad CKD populations and the importance of early initiation of SGLT2i therapy in delaying CKD progression, while Dr Jack Ng of the Chinese University of Hong Kong presented strategies for optimizing SGLT2i prescription in CKD.

Clinical role of oral bempedoic acid in LDL-C management

LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) reduction is the key to preventing and treating atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Recent guidelines advocate aggressive LDL-C lowering in individuals at high or very high cardiovascular (CV) risk. At the Advances in Medicine 2024 conference, Dr Chu-Pak Lau, Specialist in Cardiology, discussed the clinical role of non-statin lipid-lowering therapies (LLTs), including oral bempedoic acid as a single agent or in fixed-dose combination (FDC) with ezetimibe, in patients who have failed to achieve guideline-recommended LDL-C targets or have statin intolerance.

GLP-1 RAs offer CV benefits in T2DM

Cardiovascular (CV) benefits of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) support their use in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). At a Novo Nordisk–sponsored lecture during the 6^th Annual Meeting of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Hong Kong (EDM HK), Dr Julie Lovshin of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Toronto, Canada, reviewed clinical trials and real-world evidence on CV benefits provided by GLP-1 RAs, such as semaglutide, which led to guideline recommendations on their use in T2DM. Safety concerns related to GLP-1 RAs were also addressed.

[Infographics] Don’t stop at HF: Screen for ATTR-CM

Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is an increasingly recognized cause of heart failure (HF), affecting 1 in 10 patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction. Read this infographic to learn how to screen for ATTR-CM in HF patients and understand the survival benefits of early tafamidis treatment.

Corticosteroid elimination with anti–IL-5 antibody in two patients with idiopathic HES

A 45-year-old male presented with generalized urticaria in September 2020. He had no past history of allergies, but had transient autoimmune thyroiditis in 2018, which subsequently resolved.

Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy: Tips for early diagnosis and treatment updates

Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is a progressive, fatal condition that predominantly affects older adults. The prognosis is poor, with a median overall survival (OS) of 3–5 years. The condition is often underrecognized or misdiagnosed due to low disease awareness and fragmented knowledge among healthcare professionals across specialties. This article provides practical advice for early diagnosis and treatment, with a focus on 5-year OS data from the ATTR-ACT trial of tafamidis and key recommendations from the 2023 American College of Cardiology (ACC) guidelines.

Targeting IL-5 in hypereosinophilic diseases: From bench to bedside

Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) is a rare eosinophilic autoimmune disease that affects multiple organs. The lack of disease awareness and heterogeneous nature of clinical manifestations have made diagnosis and management of EGPA challenging. At Advances in Medicine (AIM) 2024, Professor Hiromichi Tamaki, a rheumatologist from St. Luke’s International Hospital in Japan, discussed how EGPA is diagnosed, presented real-world evidence on mepolizumab (an anti–interleukin [IL]-5 therapy) in EGPA and illustrated mepolizumab’s clinical benefits through several patient cases.

Robust evidence for fenofibrate in patients with metabolic syndrome on statins