| EDITORIAL | 5 |
| CARDIOVASCULAR TOPICS | 11 |
| Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in an urban area of Togo: a WHO STEPS-wise approach in Lome, Togo | 11 |
| Association between plasma homocysteine and myocardial SPECT abnormalities in patients referred for suspected myocardial ischaemia | 15 |
| A prospective review of acute coronary syndromes in an urban hospital in sub-Saharan Africa | 20 |
| The 12-lead ECG in peripartum cardiomyopathy | 24 |
| Assessment of serum leptin, pregnancy-associated plasma protein A and CRP levels as indicators of plaque vulnerability in patients with acute coronary syndrome | 32 |
| Oral health of patients with severe rheumatic heart disease | 38 |
| An investigation of the frequency of bacteraemia following dental extraction, tooth brushing and chewing | 42 |
| p53 negatively regulates the osteogenic differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells in mice with chronic kidney disease | 63 |
| LETTER TO THE EDITOR | 14 |
| IN MEMORIAM | 49 |
| YOUR LIFE AND YOUR HEART | 47 |
| CONFERENCE REPORTS | 50 |
| Hypertension, chronic kidney disease, atrial fibrillation and the newer anticoagulants: Prof Brian Rayner comments | 50 |
| Faculty of Consulting Physicians of South Africa: Saving brain with dabigatran | 52 |
| Managing neuropathic pain: first expert recommendation for South Africa places emphasis on stepwise pharmacological intervention | 53 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis management options for 2012 | 57 |
| Benefit versus risk in the use of non-selective NSAIDs and selective COX-2 inhibitors | 58 |
| DRUG TRENDS | 59 |
| CASE REPORTS | 72 |
| Successful emergency double valve repair operation during acute aortic dissection type A | 72 |
| Dilated cardiomyopathy secondary to coarctation of the aorta was completely resolved after stent implantation | 74 |
| A rare case of spontaneous rectus sheath haematoma in a patient with mechanical prosthetic aortic and mitral valves | 76 |
| Sustained idiopathic ventricular tachycardia originating from the posteroseptal tricuspid annulus | 78 |
| LEOPARD syndrome | 81 |