Conference Coverage

What to Watch for at HFSA 2026: Late-Breaking Heart Failure Research

Edited by:
Ashton L. Stahl

Key Highlights

  • Cardiac amyloidosis and ATTR-CM will be a major focus, with research spanning earlier detection, biomarkers, clinical outcomes, hospitalization burden, and real-world treatment effectiveness.

  • New ATTR-CM analyses will examine prognosis and outcomes, including the potential value of a serum transthyretin-to-NT-proBNP ratio and the relationship between cardiovascular-related hospitalizations and mortality.

  • Real-world comparative data will evaluate acoramidis and tafamidis in patients with ATTR-CM using the Epic COSMOS electronic health record platform.

  • Emerging diagnostic and monitoring strategies will be featured, including amyloid-targeted PET/CT, pulmonary artery pressure monitoring, home-based edema assessment, and other noninvasive approaches to evaluating heart failure.

  • Device-based and remote management strategies will remain prominent, with new data on cardiac contractility modulation, baroreflex activation therapy, cardiac microcurrent therapy, and long-term remote monitoring approaches.

Introduction

The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) Annual Scientific Meeting 2026, taking place October 9–12 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona, will bring together a multidisciplinary community of clinicians, researchers, and healthcare professionals focused exclusively on heart failure. HFSA describes the meeting as a forum for education, collaboration, scientific exchange, and practical clinical insight across the full spectrum of heart failure care.

The 2026 program includes scientific sessions, plenary presentations, oral abstracts, ePosters, and late-breaking clinical research, with topics spanning advanced heart failure, HFpEF, genetics and cardiomyopathies, cardio-oncology, health equity, artificial intelligence, implementation science, and preventive cardiology. The meeting will also feature research and educational programming relevant to cardiac amyloidosis and transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), including studies examining diagnosis, biomarkers, clinical outcomes, and real-world evidence.

The following sessions and research presentations that may be particularly relevant to those following advances in cardiomyopathy, cardiac amyloidosis, ATTR-CM, genetic testing, biomarkers, and precision approaches to heart failure care.

Can amyloidosis care move toward earlier detection and broader monitoring?

Cardiac amyloidosis is one of the meeting's most prominent themes. A prospective, multicenter phase 3 cohort will examine amyloid-targeted PET/CT with 124I-evuzamitide as a potential method for detecting early cardiac amyloidosis without an invasive biopsy. The presentation will be a key opportunity to assess how the imaging approach performed in the study cohort.

Can a new biomarker ratio help predict outcomes in ATTR-CM?

A rapid-fire oral presentation will examine whether the ratio of serum transthyretin to N-terminal pro–B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) may provide prognostic information in transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). The presentation will evaluate the relationship between serum transthyretin and NT-proBNP and whether combining the 2 measures may offer additional insight into prognosis in ATTR-CM. The presentation may help clarify the potential role of this biomarker ratio in characterizing disease risk and clinical outcomes.

How does acoramidis compare with tafamidis in real-world ATTR-CM care?

New real-world evidence presented in a rapid-fire oral presentation will directly compare outcomes among patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) treated with acoramidis or tafamidis. The study uses the Epic COSMOS electronic health record platform to evaluate comparative effectiveness in routine clinical practice. The presentation is expected to provide an independent real-world assessment of outcomes among patients receiving the 2 transthyretin stabilizers and may offer additional insight into how their effectiveness compares outside the controlled setting of a clinical trial.

How will devices and remote monitoring perform outside tightly controlled settings?

Several presentations will focus on established or emerging device-based strategies. The Sunday plenary will include 1-year real-world outcomes after cardiac contractility modulation therapy from a US post-approval study and registry outcomes following baroreflex activation therapy. Additional sessions will examine baroreflex activation therapy in heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction, cardiac microcurrent therapy, pulmonary artery pressure monitoring, and 3-year PROACTIVE-HF results stratified by sex.

The conference will also cover remote and home-based monitoring. Studies will address an ambient home system for peripheral edema, noninvasive sensor-derived assessment of left ventricular filling pressure in acute dyspnea, and remote dielectric sensing-guided decongestion. These presentations may help define where monitoring tools fit within hospital, ambulatory, and home care.

How does hospitalization burden relate to mortality in ATTR-CM?

New research from the ATTRibute-CM program will examine the relationship between cardiovascular-related hospitalizations and all-cause mortality in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). The study will add to the meeting’s broader focus on outcomes in ATTR-CM by examining how the burden of cardiovascular-related hospitalization relates to mortality. The findings may provide additional insight into the clinical significance of recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with ATTR-CM and the relationship between hospitalization burden and longer-term outcomes.