Main results of the ESC Congress 2013, Amsterdam: moving or standstill in cardiology?

At the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2013, Amsterdam, many new trials were presented at the four Hot Line Sessions. Nine of these trials were simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). In the Scientific Supplement of the Dutch daily newspaper, the NRC, it was put forward that seven out of the nine trials produced ‘negative’ results, leading to the general comment by the NRC that the scientific progress in cardiovascular medicine has halted: ‘there are no further successes to report in cardiology ’ (NRC Weekend, September 7/8, W7). Let’s have a short look at the nine trials reported at the ESC Congress and simultaneously published in the NEJM.