Landmark Cardiovascular Trials & Studies

Historical evidence atlas · primary publications · organized by clinical question

Seminal does not mean current, positive, or perfect

Read what changed—then read the boundary.

Each card pairs the trial’s population and design with its main result, historical legacy, and the limitation that should travel with the headline.

94trials & studies

43topic chapters

63years of evidence

1°publication per card

1

The four-part read

question → answer → consequence → restraint

01 · DesignWho was actually studied?

Population, comparator, allocation, sample, background therapy, and era define the question.

02 · ResultWhat did the trial establish?

Read the primary outcome first. A surrogate, component, or subgroup is not the whole result.

03 · LegacyWhy did it enter history?

A landmark may create a standard, retire one, expose harm, or change how evidence is judged.

04 · BoundaryWhere does the headline stop?

Selection, crossover, competing risk, older therapy, follow-up, and endpoint choice constrain transfer.

Keep the question intact

Follow the trial from entry to interpretation before carrying its result to another patient.

Entry changes applicability. PARADIGM-HF randomized people who tolerated both run-in regimens.
The comparator changes the question. A newer LVAD versus an older pump does not estimate its benefit over medical care.
The endpoint changes the meaning. COAPT counted recurrent admissions. Its admission-rate difference is not a patient-level NNT.
Uncertainty travels with the result. TICTAC did not detect a difference. That did not establish equivalence.

Original teaching schematic. Motion follows a reading sequence and does not represent patient outcomes. Reporting principles follow CONSORT 2025. Trial examples are developed in chapters 30, 33, 35 and 43.

2

Topic route

topic arcs · dates on every card

P2–4Risk epidemiology, aspirin & diet

P5–12Lipids, hypertension, diabetes, CKD, obesity, ASCVD & PAD

P13–17PCI origins & stable coronary disease

P18–28Acute MI, revascularization & antithrombotics

P29–32Chronic and acute heart failure

P33–35Advanced HF, durable LVAD & heart transplantation

P36–41ICD, CRT, arrhythmia, HCM & atrial fibrillation

P42–44Aortic stenosis, secondary MR & PAH

Ten trials, a closer read. Choose + Go deeper on selected cards for the backstory, funding, statistical anatomy, and the questions left open. Published facts are sourced. Editorial interpretation is labeled. These extended analyses are available in the web guide.

Use rule. This is a selective historical guide, not a ranked list or treatment protocol. A landmark result remains bounded by its enrolled population, comparator, endpoint, follow-up, and therapeutic era.

Loading trial cards…