The role of transitioning from short dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) to potent P2Y12 inhibitor monotherapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation remains inconclusive.

When randomized trials are not available to answer a causal question about the comparative effectiveness or safety of interventions, causal inferences are drawn using observational data. A helpful 2-step framework for causal inference from observational data is 1) specifying the protocol of the hypothetical randomized pragmatic trial that would answer the causal question of interest (the target trial), and 2) using the observational data to attempt to emulate that trial. The target trial framework can improve the quality of observational analyses by preventing some common biases. In this article, we discuss the utility and scope of applications of the framework. We clarify that target trial emulation resolves problems related to incorrect design but not those related to data limitations. We also describe some settings in which adopting this approach is advantageous to generate effect estimates that can close the gaps that randomized trials have not filled. In these settings, the target trial framework helps reduce the ambiguity of causal questions.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Management Bundle (SEP-1) is now included in the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program.

Future U.S. congressional funding for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program is uncertain.

Hemochromatosis is an inheritable condition that mainly affects White populations of European descent. Most patients remain asymptomatic, but others develop advanced organ damage that reduces quality of life and long-term survival. Arthropathy, diabetes mellitus, cirrhosis, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, and cardiomyopathy are key clinical manifestations. Primary care and hospital medicine physicians play an essential role in early identification of this disease, which can be accomplished via standard hematologic testing. Early diagnosis and therapeutic phlebotomy improve clinical outcomes.

In several settings, therapeutic-dose non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are superior to aspirin for the prevention of arterial and venous thromboembolism.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia. Risk factors for AF include obstructive sleep apnea, physical inactivity, obesity, cigarette use, and alcohol misuse. Atrial fibrillation substantially increases the risk for stroke and is associated with higher rates of mortality than for individuals without AF. Strategies to prevent these risk factors and to optimize those that already exist reduce the risk for subsequent AF. Physicians play an important role in proposing strategies to reduce the risk for AF among patients. Decision making regarding management of AF is often complex and requires consideration of symptoms, burden of AF (the percentage of time in AF), comorbid conditions that increase stroke risk, and the risk for bleeding. In particular, novel risk scoring systems to predict stroke risk, and consideration of factors beyond those in these tools, refine the ability to identify patients with AF who are most likely to benefit from anticoagulation to reduce stroke risk. Early use of catheter ablation of AF in selected patients improves symptoms and reduces the potential for progression from intermittent to persistent AF. A 2023 collaborative guideline from the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, American College of Chest Physicians, and the Heart Rhythm Society addressed multiple aspects of care of patients with AF. Here, a general cardiologist and a cardiac electrophysiologist discuss recommendations derived from this guideline and how to apply them to the care of a particular patient.