Events

The 37th WCIM embodies the essence of a premier conference. Featuring world-class speakers and captivating topics, the Golden City of Prague proudly becomes the global hub of internal medicine in 2024.

Reducing residual vascular risk is the mission of the Residual Risk Reduction Initiative (R3i) Foundation. Despite advances in targeting some of the modifiable individual components of this risk, a high residual risk persists. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease have the highest excess risk of cardiovascular events. Even with best evidence- based treatment including intensive statin therapy, the PROMINENT (Pemafibrate to Reduce Cardiovascular Outcomes by Reducing Triglycerides in Patients with Diabetes) Study showed that over 10% experienced a recurrent cardiovascular event within 3 years.
 
Vascular complications of T2DM also adversely impact the microvasculature, predisposing to diabetic nephropathy, retinopathy, and neuropathy. Despite guideline-recommended management of glycaemia and blood pressure, residual microvascular risk remains an unmet clinical need, detrimentally affecting patient quality of life. New perspectives are needed to tackle these issues.
 
This was the focus of the second meeting of the International Steering Committee of the R3i, comprising over 50 internationally recognised experts in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), diabetes and lipid research.

In a Joint press conference of the Residual Risk Reduction Initiative and the International Atherosclerosis Society, held in Paris on September 1, 2019, five world-renowned experts discussed the potential of a new therapy, a highly selective peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha modulator (SPPARM-alpha) agonist.
This new treatment may address the gap in managing the residual risk of heart attacks and strokes that persists in high-risk patients despite best guideline-recommended therapy including intensive statin treatment.  

Residual cardiovascular risk was a key focus of this year’s congress, which showcased two novel therapeutic approaches, targeting lipids and beyond. 

What did we learn from CANTOS (Canakinumab Anti-inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study) and REVEAL (Randomized EValuation of the Effects of Anacetrapib Through Lipid-modification study)?

The 17th International Symposium on Atherosclerosis (ISA) was a truly global meeting representing 61 atherosclerosis societies and 78 countries. According to Congress Chair, Professor J J P Kastelein, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the meeting included nearly 1,000 oral presentations and posters, covering the latest in basic science and clinical research. Among the many topics, there was renewed interest in triglycerides (TG) as the next therapeutic target in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention.

Preventive cardiology R3i session

Escalating rates of obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes are driving a major epidemic of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This is not just an issue affecting Western populations but a worldwide health problem. Importantly, in East Asian regions, including Japan, accumulation of visceral fat rather than absolute body fat is a key driver of increasing rates of obesity-related morbidities and metabolic syndrome. There also appears to be a defect in the ability of beta-cells to secrete insulin. Both factors, together with the decline in physical activity and population aging, underlie the increasing rate of diabetes incidence in Japan.(1) Focused on this challenge, the MSDA Congress, jointly hosted by The Japan Atherosclerosis Society, The Japan Diabetes Society, The Japan Society for the Study of Obesity, and the Residual Risk Reduction Initiative (R3i), attracted over 500 basic and clinical researchers in the fields of atherosclerosis, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Over 6,000 cardiologists attended the Sociedade de Cardiologia do Estado de Sao Paulo Congress (SOCESP), a clear indication of the tsunami of cardiometabolic disease facing this region.

‘Latin America poses a real challenge, due to escalating rates of obesity, diabetes and cardiometabolic disease. Integration of Latin America within the R3i provides an important opportunity to target the high residual cardiovascular and microvascular risk in this region.‘ – Prof. Jean-Charles Fruchart, President, R3i Foundation