Welcome to the latest issue of Heart International. Cardiovascular science continues to evolve at an impressive rate, and the range of articles presented here highlights cutting-edge technology and innovation within cardiology.
We begin with a commentary by Divaka Perera on the REVIVED study, which evaluated whether percutaneous coronary intervention could improve outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF).
Moving next to atrial fibrillation (AF), Rahimi et al. present a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies describing the efficacy of endothelial adhesion molecules as predictive biomarkers for AF. In addition, Sanchez-Somonte and Verma describe a multielectrode catheter with 3D mapping capabilities that can deliver ‘single-shot’ pulsed electrical field ablation for AF.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common monogenic cardiovascular disorder; however, until recently, effective treatment options have been limited. Reyes et al. describe the mechanism of action and clinical development of mavacamten, a first-in-class oral modulator of cardiac myosin for the treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Aortic stenosis is becoming a substantial health and economic burden. Sharma et al. discuss the guideline-recommended diagnosis and treatment of this condition.
Three-dimensional myocardial tissues, created from stem cells with other supporting cultured wells, offer the potential to study human heart biology as well as disease modelling and cardiovascular regenerative medicine. Ghaffari et al. review recent advances in this exciting field.
Despite an established diagnostic and treatment pathway, a diagnosis of vasospastic angina is often overlooked in patients presenting with chest pain. Sinha et al. provide a comprehensive review of the pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of vasospastic angina.
Natriuretic peptides are established biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of HF. In a review article, Horluchi et al. explore their clinical utility in guiding treatment decisions in HF.
Percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion offers an alternative strategy for stroke prevention in patients with AF for whom long-term anticoagulation is contraindicated. Pujari and Agasthi review the literature describing standard protocols of peri- and post-procedural anticoagulation following percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion.
Venous thromboembolism is a major cause of death in patients with cancer. Ramcharitar et al. discuss clinical evidence in support of the use of direct oral anticoagulants in the management of cancer-associated venous thromboembolism, as well as considering future treatment directions.
Heart International would like to thank our authors for producing insightful and informative articles. A special thanks goes to our editorial board for their continued guidance. We are also grateful to all organizations and media partners for their on-going support. We hope that you will find this edition enjoyable and informative.
Magdi El-Omar
Dr Magdi El-Omar is a consultant interventional cardiologist at the Manchester Heart Centre and an honorary senior lecturer at the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. He graduated from St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, UK, in 1988 and undertook his postgraduate general medical training in London and Oxford. He then completed his general cardiology training in Birmingham, Oxford and Wales before subspecializing in coronary intervention. The latter included a 2.5-year clinical/research fellowship in interventional cardiology at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation and the New York University Medical Centre, New York, NY, USA. During his time there, he worked closely with leaders in the field, including doctors Greg Stone, Martin Leon, Gary Roubin, Frederick Feit and Aaron Marcus. Dr El-Omar has been involved in research for over 25 years. He undertook a 2-year British Heart Foundation Junior Research Fellowship in basic science (diabetic cardiomyopathy in a rat model) in 1997–1998, which led to the award of an MD degree from the University of London. He has since been actively involved in clinical research, especially in the fields of acute coronary syndromes and coronary intervention. He has authored more than 65 peer-reviewed articles, mostly in high-impact journals. He has been a local principal investigator for several landmark, international, multicentre trials (e.g. HORIZONS-AMI, INFUSE-AMI, TOTAL, TWILIGHT, etc.). He is actively involved in education and training and is a course co-director of the International Complex Cardiovascular Catheter Therapeutics Conference in the USA.
