CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 35, No 2, May – August 2024 AFRICA 69 From the Editor’s Desk Professor Patrick Commerford has been Editor-in-Chief of the journal since 2014. After 10 years of holding the fort at the journal, he has retired. It has been an honour to have had a person of his stature heading the journal. We wish him and his family strength in the coming years. In the interim period between the passing of the journal’s founder, Professor AJ Brink in 2012, and Professor Commerford’s appointment, I took on the editorial responsibilities. I will be stepping in once again, temporarily, during this transition period. This is also perhaps a time to reflect. As Bob Dylan sang in 1964, The Times They Are A-Changin’ – time does not stand still and the environment changes constantly. Until recently, the belief was that the publishing team should be on hand for meetings, and so it was until the Covid-19 epidemic and lock-down from March 2020 to April 2022. Civil liberties were curtailed and during this time we had no physical meetings. Yet, the journal prevailed. So, with modern communication, is there a real need for a physical office with everybody on hand? The answer is no! This is somewhat reminiscent of the current debate in South Africa about the phasing out of printed newspapers. An old blackand-white photo is circulating of a night office preparing the newspaper to be printed overnight. The journalists around a round table have cigarettes in hand, smoke is swirling to the roof, and ashtrays abound – nostalgia! Yes, we do need an anchor, the go-to for articles, congress abstracts and programmes. But an editor-in-chief does not have to have an office and be close by. So, the next editor could be anywhere in Africa. As with PASCAR, face-to-face meetings can be achieved electronically. For strategic reasons, we need to think long term. Institutions have a longer life than individuals. We have to think about the future. Today, our operations are anchored by a dedicated team without a physical office: • Elsabe Burmeister manages the peer-review process, finances and journal production. • Michael Meadon and his team handle online services, including website management, PubMed Central deposits and other electronic services. • Shauna Germishuizen manages copy-editing and journal production. We have had offers from well-known commercial companies to manage the process. Editing may be in one country and creating PDFs in another. But this is costly! Additionally, the CVJA has transitioned to a new peer-review and editorial system, Open Journal Systems (OJS), hosted by SABINET. This change is part of our strategy to ensure the journal’s long-term sustainability and adaptability. The current selection of articles in this issue includes two from South Africa and the rest from Turkey and other countries. Ebrahim Banderker and colleagues from Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital discuss adult mitral valve disease (MVD). In contrast to the developed world countries, rheumatic MVD is most prevalent in South Africa. The largest group tended to be older African females with co-morbidities with predominant rheumatic mitral regurgitation. Iftikhar O Ebrahim and co-workers are from Groote Schuur and the University of Cape Town. They discuss the South African experience with blood pressure effects after catheter-based renal denervation. This forms part of the Global SYMPLICITY Registry. An interesting systematic review from China addresses the issue of vascular calcification in end-stage renal disease and how sodium thiosulfate, in contrast to statins, warfarin and others, may be a solution. There are also some interesting fillers from other sources. These are short and make for interesting reading. One is about a new ‘more reliable’ NHLS LDL cholesterol calculation method. Reported is also a study from the US that current risk formulae may be overstating the need for statins to prevent heart disease in some people. On atrial fibrillation (AF) there are two: (1) a call to re-assess the growing burden of AF and its consequences, and (2) a study suggesting that AF is rising among younger people. PA Brink Acting Editor-in-Chief Paul Brink
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