In his editorial Prof Ntusi discusses Integrity in science and scientific writing and accountability of individual authors. A contribution from the Editors’ Network of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) then also  provides commentary on accountability of authors.They indicate that authorship confers credit and important academic rewards, but also argue that authorship requires responsibility and accountability.

Capistrant and colleagues explored whether there was a difference in the determinants of hypertension prevalence, diagnosis and control in individuals aged 50 years and above between South Africa and Ghana, and found that South Africans had higher age-standardised prevalence rates for hypertension. The main determinants of the prevalence of elevated blood pressure included rural residence, educational attainment, bodyweight and income.

Russel and co-authors studied the utility of admission bloodglucose for predicting major adverse events in hospital and 6 months post-discharge in acute myocardial infarction patients in a single-centre study from Durban.

Dellar et al explored the levels of knowledge on cardiovascular disease (CVD) in HIV-infected South African surgical patients attending a public hospital and found that the level of knowledge on CVD in publicsector surgical patients infected with HIV was poor. The authors suggest health promotion targeting CVD in HIV-infected South African patients.

Weich et al describe the first case of transcatheter aortic valve prosthesis implanted intoa calcified native mitralannulus (TAV-in-MAC) in South Africa. This is now a viable treatment option for mitral valve replacement in patients with severe annular calcification who cannot under go mitral valve replacement surgery.

Fan and colleagues present a rare case of extensive Stanford Type Aaortic dissection extending from the ascending aorta superiorly to the carotids and inferiorly to the infra-renalabdominal aorta in a 34-year-old male with history of hypertension and tobacco use. The patient presented withacute chest pain, dyspnoea, slurred speech and altered mental status. The authors review the efficacy of imaging using computed tomography in this clinical entity and remind us of the seriousness of aortic dissection.

Drs Greyling and Potts present a case of atrial flutter ablation through the azygous continuation in a patient with mirror image dextrocardia and interrupted venaca vain the Image in Cardiology section.

Test your skills with the popular EGC quiz.

The deadline to sumbit abstracts for the PASCAR/SA Heart/ AfricaPCR/ AHN / CMR congress is 7 July 2019.

Submit your abstract online and don't forget to register. 

For the provisional programme click here

Registration, abstract submission and call for cases are now open for our joint PASCAR/SA Heart/AfricaPCR/AHN/CMR congress held in Sandton from 30 October – 3 November 2019.

The 2019 cohort marks the sixth year of the World Heart Federation (WHF) Emerging Leaders programme and will focus on heart failure. Applications are now open until 24 March.

Created in 2014 by world-renowned leader in global cardiovascular disease (CVD) research and WHF Past President, Professor Salim Yusuf, this WHF initiative is among the first international training programmes on cardiovascular health policy research, health systems and implementation science. Its main objective is to build up capacity, professional development, mentorship, and networking of Emerging Leaders (ELs) worldwide.

The 2019 cohort will focus on heart failure. Previous cohorts have focused on secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, raised blood pressure, tobacco prevention and control, access to essential medicines, and stroke.

The World Heart Federation aims to reach as many potential candidates as possible on a global basis. Candidates from academia, civil service, private industry and cardiovascular medicine are encouraged to apply. Candidates may be affiliated with a member organization of the World Heart Federation, but this is not mandatory.

All Emerging Leaders participants will be required to participate in online training, a five-day think tank seminar from 13-18 October 2019 in London, UK, and collaborative group work based on proposals developed during the seminar with seed funding support from the World Heart Federation from meritorious applications.

If you are interested in applying, please visit www.whfel.org and make sure your colleagues and connections are aware of this opportunity. The closing date for applications is 24 March 2019.

For any further queries or information about the programme, please email: emergingleaders@worldheart.org.

SA Heart welcomes Dr Norah Maitisa as the new pharma industry representative on the SA Heart committees, while Mr Rob Millar remains the device industry representative.

Norah Maitisa is a Medical Advisor at MSD South Africa for Lipids, Hypertension, Diabetes and Pain portfolios. She has also previously worked at GSK’s Respiratory and HIV portfolios. She has worked as a Technical advisor in several NGO’s contributing towards government’s primary health care nurse management of HIV/TB and has contributed in PC101 (TB/HIV) formulation within its working groups. Qualified in 2002 from MEDUNSA, also acquired her master in Science in Epidemiology (MSc Epidemiology) from Wits university.

Cochrane South Africa, South African Medical Research Council is offering three doctoral scholarships for policy relevant non-communicable disease-related research within the low and middle income countries public health context or evidence-based health care. Applications close on 26 November 2018.

See attached for more information about the scholarship including the application form.

Our immediate past president, Paediatric cardiologist Associate Professor Liesl Zühlke has recently won the prestigious SA Medical Research Council/ UK Department of International Development(MRC/DFID) African Research Leader Award.

Read the full story here in the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences Newsletter.