TCTMD’s Top 10 Most Popular Stories for May 2025

For May, TCTMD’s top 10 stories highlight the field’s greatest hits—TAVI in asymptomatic patients, the vagaries of statin decision-making, embolic protection woes, the latest on SGLT2 inhibitors, pulsed-field ablation safety, and more. Also a favorite: a feature article by Todd Neale exploring whether it’s time to move past STEMI as a diagnosis and consider the concept of “occlusion MI.” At the height of conference season, though, it’s no surprise that the bulk of our most-read news came from our in-person meeting coverage in Europe and the US, with winners from HRS, ECO, and EuroPCR.

1. FDA Approves TAVI for Asymptomatic Patients With Severe Aortic Stenosis

The agency’s decision for the balloon-expandable Sapien 3 platform is based on groundbreaking results from EARLY TAVR.

2. HDL Cholesterol Levels May Sway Statin Decisions in Primary Prevention

When levels are high, doctors tend to be less aggressive with statins, even though HDL shouldn’t be used to guide treatment.

 3. FEATURE Should We Be Looking for ‘Occlusion MI’ Rather Than STEMI?

STEMI criteria alone aren’t perfect for identifying occluded arteries, but still some question the need for a new paradigm.

4. ECO 2025 Tirzepatide Tops Semaglutide for Weight Loss: SURMOUNT-5

Tirzepatide slashed weight by 20%, leading researchers to call this a new “golden age” for weight-loss therapies.

5. HRS 2025 Studies Spotlight Safety Concerns With Pulsed-Field Ablation for AF 

It’s not as “perfect as they are selling it,” but it does avoid the more catastrophic complications of thermal ablation, says one EP.

6. EuroPCR 2025 Higher Mortality With TAVI Over Surgery in Bicuspid Aortic Stenosis

Once again, data are suggesting that operators should move cautiously in bicuspid anatomy and think about surgery first.

7. HRS 2025 BIO-LIBRA: Outcomes Vary by Sex, Device in Cardiomyopathy Patients With ICDs

Though women have a lower risk of ventricular arrhythmias than do men, it still exceeds the threshold to justify a device.

8. EuroPCR 2025 Complete Revascularization in STEMI Still Superior at 10 Years: DANAMI-3-PRIMULTI

A decade on, there’s less revascularization with FFR-guided complete vs culprit-only PCI, but COMPLETE-2 is on the way.

9. EuroPCR 2025 Immediate Multivessel PCI May Not Be So Bad in STEMI Patients With Shock: DanGer Data

Current guidelines support culprit-only PCI in these cases, but the “hypothesis-generating” results suggest taking a closer look.

 10. EuroPCR 2025 Meta-analysis Quashes Hopes for Routine Embolic Protection in TAVI

With the new analysis, researchers rule out embolic protection for stroke prevention in TAVI, but not everybody has given up.

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After a busy May—when we were excited to see many of you face-to-face—we’re set for a somewhat calmer June. You can check out all our data-driven cardiology news online (including a trove of conference coverage), as well as the TCTMD news team’s own favorite moments on the monthly Heart Sounds podcast. Have a wonderful start to summer!