ESC Blocks Russian Docs; Heart Defects Spell Trouble in COVID; SCAD Gene Variants

Amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) said it paused the memberships of the Russian Society of Cardiology and the Belarussian Society of Cardiologists. And cardiologists in Russia or Belarus are barred from any ESC event.

Jumps in high-sensitivity troponin I after cardiac surgery have to be much larger, having to cross a much higher threshold than what the guidelines say, in order to be meaningfully tied to 30-day mortality, according to a large cohort study. (New England Journal of Medicine)

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients were at greater risk of critical illness or death if they had congenital heart defects. (Circulation)

Several magnesium supplements failed to reduce arterial stiffness in overweight people, a randomized trial showed. (Journal of the American Heart Association)

Cerebral perfusion was actually increased, not decreased, with intensive blood pressure control in the SPRINT MIND trial. (JAMA Neurology)

For obstructive mechanical valve thrombosis, surgery performed worse than slow, low-dose thrombolysis in an observational study. (Journal of the American College of Cardiology)

There was a survival disadvantage for patients who had hypoattenuated leaflet thickening observed 30 days after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at one center. (Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions)

Study finds that post-TAVR permanent pacemakers placed during follow-up — not periprocedural pacemaker insertion — to be associated with hospitalization for heart failure at approximately 3 years. (HeartRhythm)

Transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement using the transfemoral Evoque system has shown promising 30-day and 1-year results. (JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions)

FDA cleared the S-CATH M esophageal temperature probe, notable for being visible on 3D cardiac mapping systems, for use during cardiac ablation procedures, Circa Scientific says.

Subclinical hypothyroidism during pregnancy was tied to pre-eclampsia in a meta-analysis. (The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology)

Variants in fibrillar collagen genes may make some people more susceptible to spontaneous coronary artery dissection. (JAMA Cardiology)

The ALPS trial may reveal a benefit to amiodarone treatment in shock-refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest after all. (Heart)

Meta-analysis supports several cardiovascular benefits to bariatric surgery. (European Heart Journal)

A cardiology researcher in Singapore pleaded guilty to spying on the U.S. on behalf of Russia. (Straits Times)