2020 Review: Coronavirus Effects on the Heart & Key Trials

39: The Year 2020 in Review with Sukh Nijjer

Average (ratings)

No ratings

•

Your rating

In the first Parallax episode of 2021, Ankur welcomed back Sukh Nijjer from Imperial College London to review the most impactful events and advances in cardiology from 2020.

In the first part of the episode, Ankur and Sukh focus on the mechanism of the coronavirus and its effects on the heart including clotting abnormality and troponin elevation. They discuss their clinical experiences and observations within the UK and US settings in light of the latest data. Sukh offers practical tips on how to approach patient management during this pandemic.

Following this, Ankur and Sukh analyse the controversial STRENGHT study in light of the results from REDUCE-IT. They discuss the different attitudes toward early cryoablation therapy in the context of STOP AF and EARLY-AF studies. Sukh reviews the findings of the RHAPSODY Phase 3 trial and the revolution of SGLT2 inhibitors in the treatment of heart failure.

Which COVID19 patients require risk stratification with a stress test? What are the take-home messages for physicians taking care of patients diagnosed with COVID19? What were the key trials of 2020? What can we learn from the negative results of the STRENGHT study? How have studies like STOP-AF influenced clinical practice?

Questions and comments can be sent to “podcast@radciffe-group.com” and may be answered by Ankur in the next episode. Guest @SukhNijjer, hosted by @AnkurKalraMD. Produced by @RadcliffeCARDIO.

Read MoreRead Less

Episodes

Up Next

40: Mentorship, Reflection & the Journey of Mandeep R Mehra

EP40 • Jan 25, 2021 • 46m 33s

How does Dr Mehra think about building opportunities? What were his formative experiences? How does he think about the role of mentorship in medicine? What is Dr Mehra’s message to our listeners?Dr Mehra does not frame his experiences as failures or successes; he looks at all events with one question in mind: What can I learn from this?

In this week’s episode Ankur’s guest is Dr Mandeep R Mehra, Medical Director of Brigham Heart and Vascular Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

All Episodes

Ep 152: From Risk Factor to Treatment Target: The New Era of Cardiometabolic Medicine

EP152 • Feb 02, 2026 • 38m 33s

In this key episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra sits down with Prof Naveed Sattar to explore how recent therapeutic breakthroughs are fundamentally reshaping the cardiologist's approach to diabetes management.

Ep 151: Cardiology's 2025 Year in Review with Dr Sukh Nijjer

EP151 • Jan 16, 2026 • 1h 40m 44s

In this highly anticipated annual year-end episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes back Dr Sukh Nijjer, an interventional cardiologist in London, for their seventh consecutive year reviewing cardiology's most significant developments.

Ep 150: Building a Legacy in Cardiology: From the NIH to JAMA Cardiology with Robert Bonow

EP150 • Jan 05, 2026 • 50m 44s

In this landmark 150th episode of Parallax marking the start of Season 8, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes Professor Robert Bonow, Professor of Medicine and Cardiology at Northwestern University and Editor-in-Chief of JAMA Cardiology. This milestone conversation explores the career of one of cardiology's most influential academic leaders and examines how strategic vision, mentorship, and institutional leadership have shaped modern cardiovascular medicine.

Ep 149: The Placebo-Controlled Revolution: Redefining Evidence in Device Trials

EP149 • Dec 19, 2025 • 33m 7s

In this week's episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes Prof Rasha Al-Lamee, interventional cardiology consultant and professor of medicine/cardiology at Imperial College London, and deputy editor of JACC. Prof Al-Lamee has transformed interventional cardiology through her pioneering work on the ORBITA trial series and coronary sinus reducer device studies, introducing the paradigm-shifting concept of sham-controlled device trials to the field.

Ep 148: Breaking Down Healthcare Borders: Five Pillars to Revolutionary Access

EP148 • Dec 08, 2025 • 32m 30s

In this episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes Dr Sarah Matt, Associate Clinical Professor at Upstate Medical University, health tech strategist, and author of the newly released The Borderless Healthcare Revolution.

Ep 147: From Landfill to Life-Saving: GOMED's Mission to Reimagine Medical Device Distribution

EP147 • Nov 24, 2025 • 38m 44s

In this week's episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes Dr Courtney Maxey-Jones, Director of the Coronary Care Unit at Upstate University Hospital and a cardiac anesthesiologist intensivist by training. Dr Maxey-Jones co-founded and serves as Chief Operations Officer of GOMED, a not-for-profit organization transforming how we think about medical device waste and global healthcare equity.

Ep 146: The Heart Function Revolution: Why Prevention Matters at Every Stage of Disease

EP146 • Nov 10, 2025 • 37m 49s

In the latest episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes Dr Martha Gulati and Dr Anu Lala for a groundbreaking conversation about reimagining heart failure prevention across the entire disease spectrum.

Ep 145: From NAFLD to MASLD: Unveiling the Cardiovascular Impact of Metabolic Liver Disease

EP145 • Oct 24, 2025 • 30m 36s

In this essential episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes Dr Monica Tincopa for a crucial conversation about Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) and its profound implications for cardiovascular care.

Ep 144: ESC 25 in Review with Dr Purvi Parwani

EP144 • Oct 13, 2025 • 1h 5m 25s

In this evidence-packed episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes back Dr Purvi Parwani for a comprehensive review of groundbreaking trials presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.

Ep 143: GDMT Optimisation: Mitigating SCD Risk and Addressing Women’s Cardiac Health

EP143 • Sep 29, 2025 • 43m 45s

In this episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra speaks with Dr Benjamin A D’Souza, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Section Chief of Cardiac Electrophysiology at Presbyterian Medical Center. Together, they explore the challenges of mitigating sudden cardiac death and the evolving role of guideline-directed medical therapy in optimising patient outcomes.