Sam Straw

Some researchers win the @NobelPrize Some researchers publish in @NEJM Some researchers change practice forever Our research led @bmj_latest to print the words sh**, f**k, w***ker, and cr** So who's the real winner? 😂 Our 🎄Christmas BMJ 🎄article: bmj.com/content/387/bm…

@drjohnm 🙌

Tomorrow I will have expanded coverage on the This Week in Cardiology (TWIC) podcast of CLOSURE, as well as some context for the upcoming CHAMPION trial to be presented at #ACC26 It will be crucial to be fully informed on CHAMPION's design before the results are presented

Perfect timing—and a bit of a cruel twist, one might say. In a week, CHAMPION-AF may tell a different story, but the long-awaited CLOSURE-AF, now out in @NEJM, makes for a tough week ahead for those supporting left atrial appendage closure. nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

Our new textbook, Essential ECG, is out on Friday! 🫀 You can order it here: amazon.co.uk/Essential-ECG-… @DrDavidWarriner @DrAkshayGaur @scionpub

In patients with #HeartFailure and #LBBB, conduction system pacing (#CSP) was inferior to biventricular pacing (#BiVP) for a composite of death, heart failure events, and LVEF change at 12 months. ja.ma/3PgczJP

omg this title, this paper

Surrogate markers of clinical endpoints in clinical trials of heart failure academic.oup.com/eurjhf/advance… #EJHF @ESC_Journals @mvaduganathan

@DrMarkMills @DhirajGuptaBHRS @vish_luther @LHCHFT @LiverpoolEP @JACCJournals Love this, super simple and cheap as chips

Our new study in JACC EP: the HARNESS RCT A simple/low-cost method involving a figure-of-8 suture secured with a 3-way tap reduced access-site complications and improved efficiency compared with manual compression after AF ablation jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.… @DhirajGuptaBHRS

Same author, exact opposite argument few short years apart ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CI…

*VALVE CASE OF THE MONTH* Early 40s, admitted with exertional CP and one episode of syncope Loud systolic & diastolic murmurs Here's the first PLAX view on TTE #echofirst

A Bayesian analysis of finerenone in heart failure with mildly reduced and preserved ejection fraction: a pre-specified analysis of FINEARTS-HF The non-steroidal MRA finerenone reduced the rate of cardiovascular death and total heart failure events under both frequentist and Bayesian inference methods. The probability of benefit exceeded 80% for both cardiovascular and all-cause mortality with finerenone #Cardiology #MedTwitter #CardioTwitter #HeartHealth #Healthcare @mvaduganathan @gcfmd @SJGreene_md @AndrewJSauer @EJHFEiC @HFA_President @hfcollaboratory academic.oup.com/ehjcvp/advance…

During my 2-year #fellowship I performed almost 1,000 #PCI & learnt #TAVI from one of the greatest operators @johngraydonwebb On top of publishing impactful 📝presenting at 🌎 meetings & living in #Vancouver 🚨If interested, apply now & feel free to 💬 bcis.org.uk/news/fellowshi…

TUXEDO-2, in plain terms. The trial was designed to test non-inferiority of ticagrelor vs prasugrel in patients with diabetes and multivessel disease, using a composite endpoint mixing ischemic and bleeding events. The NI margin was 5%, but the 95% CI of the difference ranged from −2.07% to +6.74%. To me, this is an inconclusive result: it cannot confidently rule out benefit or harm. Still, I’m comfortable with the authors’ and the journal’s conclusion—ticagrelor did not meet non-inferiority, seemingly due to numerical increases in both ischemic and bleeding events. This is now the second trial suggesting that the two drugs are not exactly on the same level. Ticagrelor was not superior to prasugrel in ISAR-REACT 5, and it was not non-inferior in TUXEDO-2. This may sound like nuance, but it’s actually the key point. In both trials, ticagrelor was the one being tested against prasugrel, not the other way around. The burden of proof was on ticagrelor—and it didn’t quite carry it. With the comparison reversed, and given these statistical designs and endpoints, results might have been the same, or maybe not. Add to this that one trial was in ACS and the other not strictly so, and the picture becomes even more blurred. Bottom line: we really need a patient-level meta-analysis. A study-level one would probably just add another layer of confusion. jamanetwork.com/journals/jamac…

I think the only ones that win here are the Journal publishers with their "open access" fees. Do we really need yet another meta analysis around this theme?

Joint British Societies’ position statement on cardiology training in the United Kingdom - bit.ly/41IvZtk

Our online course, which focuses on the process of undertaking cardiovascular research, takes place a week today - Thursday 12 February. For only £55, this full day session features insight from a faculty who have undertaken their own research and will share the successes and challenges they faced along the way. Delegates will benefit from tips, dedicated break-out sessions and a keynote presentation. Find out more and book your place > tinyurl.com/Cardiovascular… @AnnaKateBarton @dr_kaura @hollymorgs @sohaibnazir @kazemr @alex_rothman @DrSamStraw @DrWillWatson @KlausKWitte @LouiseCoats7 @JJCuthbert @HighSTEACS Course Directors: @OllyBrown @Dr_M_Sweeney @DrDavidWarriner

🚨BREAKING: Google just dropped another hit! It's called PaperBanana and it generates publication-ready academic illustrations from just your methodology text. No Figma. No manual design. No illustration skills needed. Here's how it works: A team of AI agents runs behind the scenes → One finds good diagram examples → One plans the structure → One styles the layout → One generates the image → One critiques and improves it Here's the wildest part: Random reference examples work nearly as well as perfectly matched ones. What matters is showing the model what good diagrams look like, not finding the topically perfect reference. In blind evaluations, humans preferred PaperBanana outputs 75% of the time. This is the recursion we've been waiting for AI systems that can fully document themselves visually. Waitlist’s open, Link in the first comment.

@aayshacader @drjohnm @BCIS_uk @ChoudryFizzah @M_Protty @tomkaier @rallamee @ShrillaB @ShaziaTHussain1 @ANazmiCalik @sbrugaletta @MillbrookMed Which was the third trial? First two 🎯

A fantastic critical appraisal by cardiology’s favourite podcaster @drjohnm at #BCISACI provoking important questions on the impact of randomised device trials, framing the right questions and endpoints, and the role of journals & regulatory agencies

🌟 Taking the First Steps in Cardiovascular Research - Faculty confirmation! 🌟 We're delighted to confirm the faculty for this year's course, taking place online on Thursday 12 February. Book your place > tinyurl.com/Cardiovascular… @AnnaKateBarton @dr_kaura @hollymorgs @sohaibnazir @kazemr @alex_rothman @DrSamStraw @DrWillWatson @KlausKWitte We'll also be welcoming Dr @LouiseCoats7, Dr @JJCuthbert and Prof @HighSTEACS! Course Directors: @OllyBrown @Dr_M_Sweeney @DrDavidWarriner

🚨 Deadline extension: abstract submissions 🚨 Submitting an abstract for #BCS2026 guarantees great visibility for your work and the opportunity to interact with an engaged audience. We've now extended the deadline to Sunday 8 February, so there's more time to get your submission in! You can submit: - Abstracts in basic science and clinical categories - Case reports - Applications for our Early Career Investigator and Michael Davies Awards Find our more > britishcardiovascularsociety.org.uk/abstracts-awar…