†Deceased (see In Memoriam at the end of this document) *Representative of the Pediatric and Congenital Electrophysiology Society (PACES) ‡Representative of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) xRepresentative of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) {Representative of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) #Representative of the Latin American Heart Rhythm Society (LAHRS) **Representative of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) ‡ ‡Representative of the American Heart Association (AHA) xxRepresentative of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) {{Representative of the Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS)

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic that is wreaking havoc on the health and economy of much of human civilization. Electrophysiologists have been impacted personally and professionally by this global catastrophe. In this joint article from representatives of the Heart Rhythm Society, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Heart Association, we identify the potential risks of exposure to patients, allied healthcare staff, industry representatives, and hospital administrators. We also

Background-Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a familial myocardial condition caused by sarcomere protein mutations, is usually recognized by early adulthood. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy of the elderly has similar clinical features but, notably, a later age of onset and noncontributory family history. Causes of elderly-onset hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are unknown. Methods and Results-Eighteen women and 13 men diagnosed with late-onset hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were studied.Initial symptoms occurred at 59.

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common cardiac rhythm abnormality, is associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and health care expenditures. Elevated B-type natriuretic peptide levels have been associated with the risk of heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and mortality. Methods and Results The relation between N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and AF was studied in 5,445 Cardiovascular Health Study participants, using relative risk regression for predicting prevalent AF, and Cox proportional hazards for predicting incident AF. NT-proBNP levels were strongly associated with prevalent AF, with an unadjusted prevalence ratio of 128 for the highest quintile (95%CI 17.9, 913.3, p< 0.001); and adjusted prevalence ratio of 147 for the highest quintile (95% CI 20.4, 1064.3, p<0.001) compared to the lowest. After a median follow up of 10 years (maximum of 16 years), there were 1,126 cases of incident AF (a rate of 2.2 per 100 person years). NT-proBNP was highly predictive of incident AF with an unadjusted hazard ratio of 5.2 (95% CI 4.3, 6.4, p < 0.001) for the development of AF for the highest quintile compared to the lowest; for the same contrast, NT-proBNP remained the strongest predictor of incident AF after adjustment for an extensive number of covariates, including age, sex, medication use, blood pressure, echocardiographic parameters, diabetes, and heart failure; with an adjusted hazard ratio of 4.0 (CI 3.2, 5.0, p< 0.001). Conclusions In a community based population of older adults, NT-pro BNP was a remarkable predictor of incident AF, independent of any other previously described risk factor.

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