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What 200,000 HCP posts reveal about the future of cardiovascular care

27.10.2025 | Insight

What 200,000 HCP posts reveal about the future of cardiovascular care

The World Health Organisation ranks cardiovascular disease (CVD) as the leading cause of death in the world, highlighting the importance of addressing and treating this group of illnesses. Since November 2024, CREATION.co tracked online healthcare professional (HCP) conversations about the CVD space, and identified over 200,000 posts from ~25,000 HCPs across the world. In this article we break down what these HCPs are saying about six key therapy areas in the CVD space, and what that tells us about the importance of listening to key stakeholder groups on social media.

As seen in the first bar chart above, we investigated six therapy areas. Heart failure (HF) was the most mentioned by HCPs, followed by hypertension (HTN) and coronary heart disease (CHD). The following chart shows the largest topic of conversation within each of these therapy areas was about research and trial results (26%, 18%, 26% of conversation respectively). This was also the case for cardiomyopathy (25%). For stroke, the largest topic was risk and prevalence (23%). For congenital heart disease, research and trial results was the largest topic, however there were notable increases in the diagnosis and awareness and education topics compared to other therapy areas.

As seen in the line chart below, it’s clear that the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress was a key driver of discussion for these diseases, with HCPs conversing about new data, treatments, and more. Let’s now dive into each of the disease types and investigate what matters to HCPs at the forefront of policy discussion.

Heart Failure

As previously touched on, ESC Congress created the largest spike in HCP conversations about HF. This follows the well-documented trend of congress-driven spikes in HCP social media posts seen across therapeutic areas.

Within this ESC discussion, which saw close to 5,000 posts from HCPs about HF in a week, and there was significant conversation about the role of beta-blockers in HF treatment. The REBOOT and BETAMI-DANBLOCK trials saw large number of shares (>200) from HCPs as they debated the evolving treatment space. Dr Pascal Meier, a UK-based cardiology professor, also highlighted the “striking” sex differences in the REBOOT trial, emphasising the need for gender-specific analyses within scientific studies. Dr Meier is ranked in the top 50 most-impactful HCPs in the HF space in CREATION.co’s HF-specific DOL Finder dashboard.

Other spikes in HF conversation since November 2024 were caused by other key data releases. The rise in HCP conversation in November last year was partially driven by Lilly’s SUMMIT trial presented at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) 2024 meeting. The investigators concluded that the GLP-1 Mounjaro (trizepatide) significantly reduces the risk of HF hospitalisation, intensification, and death in HF patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). The findings marked a significant advancement in HFpEF management, underlining the potential of GLP-1s for cardiovascular outcomes. The SUMMIT trial was mentioned over 1,000 times by HCPs in the data period.

Hypertension

The largest spike in the hypertension (HTN) conversation came on the eve of ESC 2025, as the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and AHA released updated HTN guidelines for the first time in eight years. HCPs posted over 1,000 times about this update, with the majority simply sharing the news to their networks. These posts garnered over 800,000 impressions, showing how social media helps HCPs to get updates out more quickly to front-line physicians. A good number of HCPs also added to the usability of the guidelines, sharing key takeaways and changes and concise summaries.

The next largest spike in the HTN chatter came on World Hypertension Day, May 17th. Posting over 250 times, HCPs used the day to raise awareness for the disease, highlighting the importance of screening and a healthy lifestyle to combat HTN-related illnesses.

Coronary Heart Disease

Similar to HF, HCP mentions of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) also peaked during ESC 2025. There were a number of drivers of this, one of which is shared with the beta-blockers HF conversation. The BETAMI-DANBLOCK and REBOOT trials focus on myocardial infarction, a common consequence of CHD. 

Elsewhere at ESC, CHD was discussed in the context of the PANTHER-2 trial, which showed clopidogrel is superior to aspirin monotherapy to prevent certain major cardiac events. One post, from Italian HCP, Felice Gragnano, outlining these results was shared 35 times by HCPs. Further to this, STEMIs (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction) were mentioned over 200 times in the context of ESC, as HCPs discussed preventative measures and differing AI-powered detection options.

Stroke

HCP posts about stroke were more evenly distributed throughout the data period, with the most notable spikes coming during and just before ESC 2025. While there were no clear standout stroke trials or presentations that drove HCP discussions during the congress, stroke was mentioned multiple times in the context of other therapeutic areas. For example, the ALONE_AF trial, looking at discontinuation of medicines in patients with atrial fibrillation, found that the risk of stroke did not increase one year after stopping taking oral anticoagulants. One post, from Italy-based cardiologist Raviele Antonio, breaking down this trial garnered over 20 reposts.

The spike just before ESC was driven by the release of the ACC/AHA HTN guidelines (see HTN section above). HCPs sharing and discussing the guidelines emphasised the risks of high blood pressure for comorbidities such as stroke, and how a healthier heart can reduce the chance of a life-changing ischaemic event. The aforementioned influencer Pascal Meier was again at the heart of this discussion.

Cardiomyopathy

Following the congress-heavy trend of other CVDs, cardiomyopathy also peaked during ESC congress, and similar post volumes were seen in November 2024 at the AHA24 meeting. At AHA, presenters showcased advancements in the treatment of ischaemic cardiomyopathy, particularly through catheter ablation strategies. HCPs expressed that the VANISH-2 trial results were noteworthy, demonstrating a substantial reduction in composite events such as death and VT storms. First presented at AHA – but with updated results released throughout the data period – HCPs posted nearly 200 times about the trial.

At ESC 2025, big hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) trials dominated the cardiomyopathy conversation. CREATION.co identified over 200 HCP posts about ODYSSEY-HCM, which (despite initial excitement earlier in the year) failed to meet its primary endpoints. ODYSSEY-HCM was investigating BMS’ novel drug mavacamten (Camzyos)  in non-obstructive HCM. US cardiologist Dr Ahmad Masri, who ranks #1 for peer impact in CREATION’s HCM DOL Finder dashboard, stating that greater understanding of what caused this disappointing data is needed. This post received 16 HCP reshares, with three other HCPs engaging in discussion in the comments.

Congenital Heart Disease

Despite being the smallest of the six therapeutic areas investigated, our analysis did identify over 2,300 HCP posts in the data period about congenital heart disease (ConHD). The largest spike in this conversation was politically driven, with HCPs reacting to the Trump administration’s cutbacks on medical funding. One post, from former US secretary of labour Robert Reich, was shared over 60 times by verified HCPs. It outlined the loss of a grant for research into artificial hearts for those born with heart defects, dubbing the decision as a “cruelty”.

Other mentions of ConHD were in the context of peer-to-peer education and knowledge sharing, and didn’t follow any definitive trends.

What Next?

To conclude, it’s important to touch on the importance of these insights, and what they can tell us about the stakeholders influencing the CVD space.

It’s clear HCPs are having many, varying discussions on social media, regardless of the CVD disease or topic. By listening in to these conversations, industry leaders can get to the heart of what HCPs really think; insights unprompted chatter such as that shown in this article can easily outperform those found from scripted market research. From tracking congress data reactions, to engaging with the most-influential digital opinion leaders in a space, there’s a wide range of approaches to take which can transform strategy, from supporting launches, to educating front-line users. CREATION.co colleagues have written extensively about these topics – signing up to our free eJournal is a great way to stay up-to-date with these latest insights.

To discover how else CREATION.co can support your industry needs, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

 

 

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Ben Stott


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