Heart science: AHA Scientific Sessions 2026
The American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2026 run Nov. 6–9 at McCormick Place in Chicago, with exhibits Nov. 7–9 (source: American Heart Association, checked Nov. 3, 2026).
By Mongevity Desk · About us · Corrections
Every November, the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions is where many of the year's biggest heart and stroke trials are first presented. Results come out in a rush, often as "late-breaking science", and headlines follow within hours.
This page follows the meeting the way you would follow an election: before (what is at stake and how to follow it), during (each announcement with its time and source) and after (what each trial found, in absolute risk, with our A–E grade).
If you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation or a past heart attack, nothing presented at a meeting changes your treatment on its own. Ask your doctor before changing anything.
When and where
Nov. 6–9, 2026 · McCormick Place, Chicago. Main sessions and late-breaking science start Nov. 7; the meeting ends Nov. 9. American Heart Association
How to follow it
- Results are released by the AHA newsroom, usually at a set embargo time on the day each trial is presented.
- Many trials are published in a medical journal the same day; we link to the paper when there is one.
- We post each result here with its time and source, and then explain it in its own article.
What's on the program
The AHA lists its late-breaking trials on the official meeting site. We will add each one here, with its topic, once we have checked it against the official list. Official page
5 words you'll hear
- Late-breaking trialA study whose results are ready so close to the meeting that it gets a special session. It is new, not necessarily better.
- Primary endpointThe one result the trial was designed to measure. If a trial misses it, other good-looking numbers count much less.
- Phase 3The last and largest stage of testing in people before a drug can be submitted to the FDA.
- Hazard ratioHow the risk in the treated group compares with the control group over time. 0.80 means about 20% lower risk, relative to the other group.
- Absolute riskHow many people out of 100 had the outcome in each group. A 20% relative drop can mean going from 5 in 100 to 4 in 100.
Studies we covered before the meeting
These are recent studies on the same topics, not results from the meeting. Meeting results will appear above, each with its time and source.
- AStrong: large randomized trials or meta-analyses in people, with hard outcomes.
- BGood: randomized trials in people with smaller samples, shorter follow-up or lab markers.
- CModerate: well-done observational studies in people.
- DLimited: small or early studies in people.
- EVery limited: studies in cells or animals only.
| Study | Topic | Evidence | Why this grade | Original paper | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart blood tests | |||||
| A faster heart attack blood test didn’t shorten ER stays in five trials | Heart | A | Individual participant data meta-analysis of all randomized trials; imprecise safety estimate, outcome refined after data receipt and high heterogeneity. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
| Lipoprotein(a) barely changed after a heart attack, so one test stays reliable | Heart | C | Repeated measures within a randomized trial, but observational Lp(a) analysis in a relatively small group. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
| In people with diabetes, high lipoprotein(a) was linked to a second heart attack | Heart | C | Pre-registered meta-analysis of seven observational studies; substantial heterogeneity and no causal proof. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
| Heart rhythm | |||||
| Placing the pacemaker wire in a different spot cut heart failure problems in a trial | Heart | B | Randomized trial with a clear and consistent result; moderate size, single country, composite outcome driven by heart failure events, not blinded for operators. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
| In AFib with diabetes, tirzepatide was linked to fewer strokes than other GLP-1 drugs | Heart | C | Large observational cohort with matching; non-random treatment, possible confounding and a striking mortality gap. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
| In AFib with advanced kidney disease, apixaban balanced stroke and bleeding better | Heart | C | Large observational target trial emulation with careful balancing; non-random treatment and claims data. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
| Stroke | |||||
| Removing the clot helped even mild strokes caused by a large blocked artery | Heart | B | Randomized multicenter trial with clear benefit; open-label, single country, selected by imaging and with frequent procedure complications. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
| Clot removal 24 to 72 hours after stroke improved recovery but raised bleeding and deaths | Heart | B | Randomized trial with blinded outcome assessment; open-label treatment, single country and clearly higher bleeding and death with the procedure. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
| Levodopa didn’t help movement recover after stroke, a Cochrane review finds | Heart | B | Cochrane review of randomized trials; the highest-quality trials agreed, but overall certainty was low or very low and heterogeneity was high. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
| Heart valves | |||||
| With heart failure and kidney disease, open valve surgery was linked to better survival | Heart | C | Large matched observational cohort; non-random choice of procedure and likely residual confounding by frailty. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
| Before a catheter valve, skipping stents was safe except when artery disease was complex | Heart | C | Post hoc subgroup analysis of a randomized trial; small subgroups and not designed to test SYNTAX differences. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
| Repairing a leaky heart valve early, before symptoms, was linked to longer survival | Heart | C | Careful target trial emulation with long follow-up; observational, expert centers in one country and possible selection. | Paper | Nov. 3, 2026 |
Questions people ask
When is AHA Scientific Sessions 2026?
The American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2026 run Nov. 6–9 at McCormick Place in Chicago, with exhibits Nov. 7–9 (source: American Heart Association, checked Nov. 3, 2026).
Where the data comes from
- American Heart Association: Scientific Sessions: The organizer's program, dates and location.
- American Heart Association newsroom: Where the AHA releases the results presented at the meeting, with embargo times.
- ClinicalTrials.gov, National Institutes of Health: The official registry of clinical trials: phase, status, dates and results, filed by the researchers.
- PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine: Every study we grade links to the original journal article.
Mongevity explains research. It does not give medical advice.