Myocardial Injury & COVID; Fewer Repeat Strokes; Video Games & Lethal Arrhythmias

Myocardial injury, not pre-existing cardiovascular disease, was a significant predictor of in-hospital death and cardiovascular events in critically ill patients with COVID-19. (Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes)

Recurrent ischemic strokes are on a downward trajectory across the U.S., though the South-Central region is still seeing higher recurrence rates. (Stroke)

Gout medicine allopurinol did not improve cardiovascular outcomes for people with ischemic heart disease in the ALL-HEART trial. (The Lancet)

Differences in cardiac biomarker levels between transgender men and women were similar to what is observed between cisgender men and women. (JAMA Cardiology)

For asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis, early surgical intervention was associated with fewer heart failure hospitalizations compared with a strategy of watchful waiting — but no difference in stroke or myocardial infarction — a meta-analysis found. (Heart)

Intensive blood pressure lowering was associated with prevention of malignant left ventricular hypertrophy in the SPRINT trial. (Journal of the American College of Cardiology)

Although rivaroxaban (Xarelto) did not pan out for extended thromboprophylaxis in MARINER, the trial showed a favorable benefit-risk profile in this setting for medically ill people who are not at high bleeding risk. (Journal of the American Heart Association)

For intermediate- to high-risk acute pulmonary embolism, catheter-directed thrombolysis appeared to be a promising alternative to standard anticoagulation in a small pilot study. (EuroIntervention)

For patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, programmed ventricular stimulation had prognostic value for predicting ventricular arrhythmias. (Circulation)

Can video games provoke cardiac arrhythmias in children? (HeartRhythm)

One center’s report on exercise stress testing in pediatric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy showed that few tests had to be stopped due to safety concerns, and suggested that exercise-associated ectopy was a harbinger of death, transplant, or arrhythmia requiring implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placement. (JACC: Advances)

The ELANA open heart bypass device passed the hurdle of a first-in-human study, AMT Medical said.

The 23-year-old son of a former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star was reportedly hospitalized for stroke and heart failure. (NBC News)