Hosts Mitsuaki Sawano, MD, Nobuhiro Ikemura, MD, and Satoshi Shoji, MD welcome Prof. Yoshinobu Onuma (University of Galway)—Last Author of the ARC Position Statement—along with guest commentators Prof. Ken Kozuma (Teikyo University) and Dr. Taku Asano (St. Luke's International Hospital) to discuss the evolving role of drug-coated balloons (DCBs) in coronary intervention. The conversation highlights key insights from the ARC document, including DCB technology classifications, drug and coating differences, and the essential role of optimal lesion preparation, while outlining evidence-based indications across ISR, de novo lesions, bifurcations, ACS, diabetes, and high-bleeding-risk patients. The episode underscores why DCBs are not a class effect and how "leave nothing behind" strategies may shape the future of PCI.

Hosts Mitsuaki Sawano, MD, and Satoshi Shoji, MD welcome Prof. Shuhei Nomura, PhD (Tohoku University) for an in-depth discussion of the landmark JACC Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk Factors, 1990–2023 analysis, covering data from 204 countries and territories. Dr. Nomura, a leading member of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) collaboration, explains how cardiovascular disease—still largely preventable—now accounts for an increasing share of global health loss, with metabolic risks such as high blood pressure, elevated glucose, high BMI, and unhealthy diet offsetting gains from reduced smoking and infection control. The conversation also highlights Japan's slowing health-improvement pace, the rise of diabetes and overweight/obesity, and the urgent need to narrow regional disparities.

Hosts Mitsuaki Sawano, MD, and Nobuhiro Ikemura, MD, welcome Dr. Taisuke Nakade (Juntendo University) and Dr. Yuya Matsue (Juntendo University) to discuss how a simple Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) captures multidimensional vulnerability and predicts outcomes in heart failure. Drawing on 3,905 patients (mean age 73 years) from the nationwide JROAD-HF NEXT registry, the JACC study (Frailty Scale Captures Multidimensional Vulnerability and Predicts Mortality in Heart Failure, 2025; doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2025.09.1590*) showed that higher CFS scores correlated stepwise with poorer physical and cognitive function and a marked rise in 2-year mortality (HR up to 6.6 for CFS 7-9). Adding CFS to standard risk models significantly improved prognostic discrimination, underscoring that bedside frailty assessment can efficiently identify high-risk patients and guide multidisciplinary heart-failure care.