The immune response is not unlike a game of chess, with white and black pieces playing opposing roles and orchestrating an opening, a middle and an endgame of innate immunity, adaptive immunity and resolution, respectively. After decades of research, the study of atheroimmunology has brought the first therapeutics to the clinic. Can we resynchronize the immune system in atherosclerosis and save the king?

Acute ischaemic stroke induces persistent innate immune memory through epigenetic changes in myeloid progenitors in the bone marrow, and this innate immune training contributes to cardiac remodelling and dysfunction in the long term, according to a new study.

A new small-molecule inhibitor of vasohibins reduces myocardial stiffness and improves diastolic relaxation in a rat model of HFpEF.

A new study indicates that proteins in the sarcomere complex are stochastically removed and degraded and are replaced by newly translated proteins. Sarcomere turnover occurs at a similar rate within cardiomyocytes and across the heart and slows with ageing.

Preliminary experience with the use of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) to treat non-calcific aortic regurgitation has raised concerns about the short-term effectiveness of TAVI in this setting. A deeper understanding of the interaction between transcatheter heart valves and anatomy in patients with non-calcific aortic valve disease, coupled with the introduction of dedicated TAVI devices, is providing new opportunities in the management of this condition.

The advent of pulsed-field ablation — a series of ultra-rapid, high-energy pulses that result in non-thermal cell death via electroporation — is revolutionizing the field of atrial fibrillation ablation. Data on first iterations of the technology indicate that safety and efficacy are at least similar to that of thermal ablation but with meaningfully shorter procedure duration.