Professor Gustavs Latkovskis

Clinical and interventional cardiologist at Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital and Professor of Medicine at the University of Latvia in Riga, Latvia.

Biography

Gustavs Latkovskis, MD, PhD is a clinical and interventional cardiologist at Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital and Professor of Medicine at the University of Latvia in Riga, Latvia.

His research interests include lipidology with a special focus on familial hypercholesterolemia as well as cardiovascular prevention, silent ischemia in high-risk patients, statin intolerance and others. In 2015, he established the Latvian Registry of Familial Hypercholesterolemia. He graduated cum laude in Medicine at the Latvian Medical Academy (currently Riga Stradins University) in 1995 and completed his clinical training in internal medicine and cardiology in Riga, Latvia. He defended PhD thesis at the University of Latvia in 2006 on the role of genetic variations of interleukins in coronary heart disease patients.

He is Board Member at the Latvian Society of Cardiology and the Baltic Atherosclerosis Society as well as has been a Board Member and Chairman of the Certification Council of the Latvian Medical Association. He has been president of the Baltic Atherosclerosis Society in 2013-2017. He is also a member of various international societies including ESC, EAS and AHA. In 2019, he was elected as a corresponding member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.

Expert content

LBPMC Publications

Latkovskis G

Overweight, obesity, and cardiovascular disease in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia: the EAS FH Studies Collaboration registry 2025-01-13
CONCLUSIONS: Overweight and obesity are common in patients with HeFH and contribute to ASCVD risk from childhood, independent of LDL-C and lipid-lowering medication. Sustained body weight management is needed to reduce the risk of ASCVD in HeFH.
Amany Elshorbagy
Improved Genetic Characterization of Hypercholesterolemia in Latvian Patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia: A Combined Monogenic and Polygenic Approach Using Whole-Genome Sequencing 2025-01-08
Despite the implementation of next-generation sequencing-based genetic testing on patients with clinical familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), most cases lack complete genetic characterization. We aim to investigate the utility of the polygenic risk score (PRS) in specifying the genetic background of patients from the Latvian Registry of FH (LRFH). We analyzed the whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data of […]
Ivanna Atava
2024 Recommendations on the Optimal Use of Lipid-Lowering Therapy in Established Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease and Following Acute Coronary Syndromes: A Position Paper of the International Lipid Expert Panel (ILEP) 2024-11-04
Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and consequent acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are substantial contributors to morbidity and mortality across Europe. Fortunately, as much as two thirds of this disease's burden is modifiable, in particular by lipid-lowering therapy (LLT). Current guidelines are based on the sound premise that, with respect to low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), "lower is […]
Maciej Banach
Association of BMI, lipid-lowering medication, and age with prevalence of type 2 diabetes in adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia: a worldwide cross-sectional study 2024-10-07
BACKGROUND: Statins are the cornerstone treatment for patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia but research suggests it could increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in the general population. A low prevalence of type 2 diabetes was reported in some familial hypercholesterolaemia cohorts, raising the question of whether these patients are protected against type 2 diabetes. […]
European Atherosclerosis Society Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (EAS FHSC)
Asundexian versus Apixaban in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation 2024-09-03
CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atrial fibrillation at risk for stroke, treatment with asundexian at a dose of 50 mg once daily was associated with a higher incidence of stroke or systemic embolism than treatment with apixaban in the period before the trial was stopped prematurely. There were fewer major bleeding events with asundexian than with […]
Jonathan P Piccini
Finerenone in Heart Failure with Mildly Reduced or Preserved Ejection Fraction 2024-09-03
CONCLUSIONS: In patients with heart failure and mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction, finerenone resulted in a significantly lower rate of a composite of total worsening heart failure events and death from cardiovascular causes than placebo. (Funded by Bayer; FINEARTS-HF ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04435626.).
Scott D Solomon
Chronic coronary syndromes without standard modifiable cardiovascular risk factors and outcomes: the CLARIFY registry 2024-08-28
CONCLUSIONS: SMuRF-less patients with stable CAD have a substantial but significantly lower 5-year rate of CV death or non-fatal MI than patients with risk factors. The risk of CV outcomes increases steadily with the number of risk factors.
Guillaume Roger
Semaglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with obesity and prevalent heart failure: a prespecified analysis of the SELECT trial 2024-08-24
BACKGROUND: Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, reduces the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in people with overweight or obesity, but the effects of this drug on outcomes in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and heart failure are unknown. We report a prespecified analysis of the effect of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2·4 mg on […]
John Deanfield
Role of a National Health Service Electronic Prescriptions Database in the Detection of Prescribing and Dispensing Issues and Adherence Evaluation of Direct Oral Anticoagulants 2024-05-24
CONCLUSIONS: The total adherence level to DOAC therapy is evaluated as low and there was no significant difference in age, gender, or "switcher" status among adherence groups. Physicians' prescribing habits have changed over a decade.
Anna Gavrilova
Baseline characteristics of patients with heart failure with mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction: The FINEARTS-HF trial 2024-05-11
CONCLUSIONS: FINEARTS-HF has enrolled a broad range of high-risk patients with HFmrEF and HFpEF. The trial will determine the safety and efficacy of finerenone in this population.
Scott D Solomon
Ischemia-Guided Coronary Revascularization Following Lower-Extremity Revascularization Improves 5-Year Survival of Patients With Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia 2024-04-15
CONCLUSIONS: Ischemia-guided coronary revascularization of CLTI patients with asymptomatic (silent) coronary ischemia following lower-extremity revascularization resulted in more than 2-fold reduction in all-cause death, cardiac death, MI, and MACE with improved 5 year survival compared with patients with standard cardiac evaluation and care (76% vs 53%, p
Gustavs Latkovskis
Diagnosis and treatment of ischemia-producing coronary stenoses improves 5-year survival of patients undergoing major vascular surgery 2024-03-22
CONCLUSIONS: Diagnosis of silent coronary ischemia with ischemia-targeted coronary revascularization in addition to BMT following major vascular surgery was associated with fewer adverse cardiovascular events and improved 5-year survival compared with patients treated with BMT alone as per current guidelines.
Dainis K Krievins
Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study 2023-12-15
BACKGROUND: Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to […]
European Atherosclerosis Society Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration
Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Obesity without Diabetes 2023-11-12
CONCLUSIONS: In patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity but without diabetes, weekly subcutaneous semaglutide at a dose of 2.4 mg was superior to placebo in reducing the incidence of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke at a mean follow-up of 39.8 months. (Funded by Novo Nordisk; SELECT ClinicalTrials.gov […]
A Michael Lincoff
National Trends in the Use of State-Reimbursed Lipid-Lowering Medications in Latvia (2012-2021) 2023-10-14
CONCLUSION: The dispensing rate of statins doubled, and the use of ezetimibe increased more than 25 times in Latvia over a decade. The proportion of high-intensity statins increased from one third to almost half of all statins. Fixed-dose statin combinations with ezetimibe became frequently used.
Arturs Praskilevics
New-onset atrial fibrillation and chronic coronary syndrome in the CLARIFY registry 2023-08-27
CONCLUSIONS: Among CCS patients, NOAF is common and is strongly associated with worse outcomes. Whether more intensive preventive measures and more systematic screening for AF would improve prognosis in this population deserves further investigation.
Alexandre Gautier
Genetic Characteristics of Latvian Patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia: The First Analysis from Genome-Wide Sequencing 2023-08-12
CONCLUSIONS: Despite the high clinical likelihood of FH, confirmed P/LP variants were detected in only 20.9% of patients in the Latvian cohort when assessed with genome-wide next generation sequencing.
Gustavs Latkovskis
Stability of Direct Oral Anticoagulants Concentrations in Blood Samples for Accessibility Expansion of Chromogenic Assays 2023-07-29
Background and Objectives: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are used for minimising the risk of thromboembolic events. In clinical practice, there is no need to measure DOAC concentration in the routine. Nevertheless, there are cases where such measurements are necessary, as the European Society of Cardiology's guideline recommends. However, determining DOAC levels is not available for […]
Anna Gavrilova
Evaluation of lipoprotein(a) in the prevention and management of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: A survey among the Lipid Clinics Network 2023-03-09
CONCLUSIONS: These results warrant for a great deal of effort from scientific societies to address the barriers that limit the routine use of the measurement of Lp(a) concentration and to recognise the importance of Lp(a) as a risk factor.
Alberico L Catapano
Bempedoic acid in the management of lipid disorders and cardiovascular risk. 2023 position paper of the International Lipid Expert Panel (ILEP) 2023-03-08
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a chronic non-communicable disease (NCD) and the predominant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Substantial reductions in the CVD prevalence have been achieved in recent years by the attenuation of risk factors (particularly hypertension and dyslipidaemias) in primary and secondary prevention. Despite the remarkable success of lipid lowering treatments, and of […]
Maciej Banach