Under the theme ” The Cardiac Triad: Understanding AF, Stroke and Heart Failure”, the Iraqi Hypertension Society held a joint Symposium on the fifth of July 2024 at Movenpic Hotel in Basrah governorate in the south of Iraq with the participation of a number of an eminent cardiologist from Baghdad and Basrah in addition to a neurologist  who  discussed a numerous lectures the relationships between AF and the risk of stroke and systemic embolization in different scenarios focusing on the current guidelines for risk stratification and different indications of anticoagulation including both warfarin and DOAC  showing the different aspect of their use, side effects and the current preference of different types of DOAC and their risk-benefit status.  Dr Ammar Salih Abood an Interventional Electrophysiologist discussed the role of Pulmonary Vein Isolation PVI in AF treatment and their potential long term success. Dr Ahmed AbdulJawad Salim, a lecturer and neurologist at Basrah College of Medicine discussed also the clinical aspect of embolic stroke. Dr Raed Sabri , an Interventional Cardiologist at Ibn Alnafees Cardiac center discussed the pitfall and practical points on the use of anticoagulants in AF patients and he also showed a short nice video on the history of warfarin discovery. Dr Rafid Altaweel , Interventional Cardiologist gave a nice presentation on the current diagnosis and treatments in HFpEF and the scoring system that should be followed in its diagnosis. Finally, Dr Abdali Shanan, a Senior Specialist in Internal Medicine in Basra General Hospital  gave an overview on loop diuretics and their use in clinical medicine in a addition to a brief definition of diuretic resistance.

The symposium was moderated by Prof. Ghazi Haji, the President of IqHS and Assist Prof. Abdulameer A. Abdulhameed a consultant interventional cardiologist and the Head of Department of Medicine in Basrah College of Medicine. The symposium was successfully sponsored by Denk Pharma.