Key topics: sex-related differences in vascular surgery; atrial fibrillation and cognitive performance; and gene therapy of ventricular arrhythmias

the top 10 papers in valvular heart disease' by Helmut Baumgartner from the University Hospital Muenster in Germany, and colleagues. 1 With further increasing numbers of publications this year including an unusually high number of randomized controlled trials, the authors had a difficult task to select the 10 'best' papers on valvular heart disease in their contribution to this successful series of articles (Figure 1).The Issue continues with a focus on cardiac and vascular surgery and arrhythmias.The mechanisms of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) are poorly known, and their management is complex. [2][3]3][4][5][6][7] In a Clinical Research article entitled 'Sex-specific differences in alive hospital discharge following infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm repair' Anna Louise Pouncey from the Imperial College London, UK, and colleagues investigated sex-specific differences in, and drivers of, the rate of alive hospital discharge. 8They performed an examination of elective AAA patients in the UK National Vascular Registry (UK NVR), 2014-19, and the Swedish National Patient Registry (SE NPR), 2010-18, for endovascular (EVAR) or open aneurysm repair (OAR).Cox models assessed sex-specific difference in the rate of alive hospital discharge, adjusting for comorbidity, anatomy, standard of care, postoperative complications, and year, with in-hospital death as the competing risk.A total of 30 000 AAA repairs were assessed.For EVAR, the unadjusted rate of alive hospital discharge was 25% lower for women (UK NVR: hazard ratio [HR] 0.75, P < .001;SE NPR: HR 0.75, P < .001).Following adjustment, the sex-specific HR remained significant.For OAR, the rate of alive hospital discharge was lower for women (UK NVR: HR 0.73, P < .001;SE NPR: HR 0.77, P < .001).The authors conclude that women have a 25% lower rate of alive discharge after aortic surgery, despite adjustment for pre-/peri-and post-