Optimizing Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Following the success of ESC Preventive Cardiology 2021, Mark Nicholls speaks to programme chairs Ana Abreu and Nicolle Kränkel for their reflections on the conference and plans for 2022. Organisers of ESC Preventive Cardiology 2021 have spoken of their delight at the success of the virtual congress, with enthusiastic participation from delegates across the globe. The annual congress of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) had an over-arching theme of ‘Optimising cardiovascular risk factors’ and dealt with issues of cardiovascular risk from different angles, including how best to assess cardiovascular risk, genetic testing, activity-monitoring devices, as well as how to implement prevention measures and treatment recommendations. It covered sports cardiology, primary care, epidemiology and population science, basic and translational research, lifestyle behaviours, and cardiovascular rehabilitation. Chair of the programme committee Prof. Ana Abreu and EAPC Secretary and Co-chair of the congress committee, Dr Nicolle Kränkel, felt that whilst the format was digital, the conference carried ‘the spirit of EAPC’. ‘You could feel the enthusiasm as people used chat forums to engage with speakers and discuss important aspects in parallel to ongoing broadcasts or live sessions’, added Dr Kränkel. Latest trends and developments in personalisation of risk prediction, risk management, the role of artificial intelligence, and digital devices targeting long-term adherence, came across strongly within the sessions. Professor Ana Abreu and Professor Nicolle Kränkel Professor Ana Abreu and Professor Nicolle Kränkel Dr Kränkel continued: ‘This included high-dimensional datasets, as well as personalised strategies of implementation and supporting adherence to prevention measures, including the help of personal devices/Smartphones for motivation. We have a large palette of interventional, pharmacological and lifestyle tools available but the trick is to mix and match them in a manner that the patient benefits maximally from, and can adhere long-term to the therapy and lifestyle modification’. Prof. Abreu said: ‘Artificial intelligence, digital tools, new imaging and genetic techniques—which importantly contribute to personalised medicine and prevention—are rapidly growing and already a reality, reinforcing in practice that “one size does not fit all”’. She also stressed that: ‘Environmental change and population lifestyle modification are essential to CV health and physical and psychological balance and must be prioritised in research and clinical practice’. While the pandemic has had a major impact on healthcare delivery and provision globally, she said it should also be seen as an opportunity for finding the best strategies in response to new challenges. The 3-day event delivered a number of key learning points and take-home messages, including the value of cross-specialty working, environmental factors, and team working. ‘We cannot stay exclusively within our corner of exercise science, genetic risk, or lipid and inflammation management—they all come together to different degrees within each person and need to be managed individually’, said Dr Kränkel. ‘The health of our planet also acts back upon the health of each of us and this includes healthy diet and air pollution. ‘In addition, it is not only the cardiologist who is responsible for managing the risk of an individual patient, but a large multi-disciplinary “team”, including the patient themselves, their close social circle, as well as the national health policies and economic conditions. On the medical side, allied professions, including nurses, physiotherapists, dieticians and psychologists, are important players in the team’. Prof. Abreu from the Cardiology Department, Hospital Santa Maria, Lisbon, and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Lisbon, felt the digital congress was a great success. ‘People from far away countries who had never participated at the ESC Preventive Cardiology Congress and also many young professionals were registered. Besides cardiologists, general practitioners, and allied professionals actively participated in the congress sessions through comments and questions in the chat/forum. ‘The common factor was the deep engagement, in time, commitment and dedication, of all the involved people’, she said, adding that the response from colleagues and delegates alike was very positive. ‘They felt a sense that it was really worth attending the congress, due to the scientific interest and diversity, the flowing structure of the program and the potential for large interactivity’. Dr Kränkel, who is a Cardiovascular Scientist at the Department of Cardiology at Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, said: ‘We received feedback from many colleagues, stating that while everyone was sad that we could not meet in person, the event was one of the most interactive and engaging conferences in the field since the pandemic. At the same time, our members have helped us putting together a varied, interesting and at the same time highly relevant programme. We have seen and shown that it is possible to have a highly-interactive conference with our colleagues from all over the world, and not just despite COVID’. With sessions ‘professionally prepared and delivered’, the congress organizers expressed their gratitude to the associations and societies that had collaborated in the congress, including the Slovenian Society of Cardiology, the Japanese Cardiac Rehabilitation Association, the Department of Exercise and Rehabilitation from the Brazilian Society of Cardiology the Portuguese Society of Cardiology, and to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, as well as to ESC/EAPC staff and technical support and faculty ‘for investing their time and effort to making this conference such an engaging event’. Looking ahead, the 2022 congress in Prague will be a hybrid event with the aim of in-person sessions, alongside virtual presentations. Conflict of interest: none declared.