Editor`s Letter

Dear Readers, This issue of the Journal of Invasive Cardiology includes several interesting articles selected for their importance to the care of cardiac patients. The first research article, submitted by Dr. Ilias Mylonas and colleagues from Evanston Hospital in Evanston, Illinois, evaluates the use of percutaneous suture-mediated closure for the management of 14 Fr femoral vein access during antegrade aortic valvuloplasty. The device was successful in 96% of the patients, with no bleeding and immediate hemostasis. In the next original research article, Dr. Spyros Kokolis and collaborators from S.U.N.Y. Downstate Medical Center and the Department of Veterans Affairs New York Harbor Healthcare System, evaluate the effects of alcoholism on coronary artery disease and left ventricular dysfunction in male veterans. Patients who presented with alcoholism had a lower incidence and a lesser severity of coronary artery disease, but greater left ventricular dysfunction. Dr. Hideaki Kaneda and collaborators from Stanford University, Emory University, the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, and the Montreal Heart Institute, present their research using intravascular ultrasound dosimetric analysis to study the safety of beta-radiation exposure on non-target segments in cases of in-stent restenosis. They found that beta-radiation promoted vessel remodeling, preventing luminal loss despite a small increase in plaque mass on angiographically normal, noninjured distal segments. In the next research paper, Dr. Vatsal Inamdar and associates from Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, New York, evaluate the utility of implantable loop recorders for diagnosing unexplained syncope in 100 consecutive patients. The device helped diagnose unexplained syncope in 45% of the patients who had negative electrophysiologic and neurologic test results. Dr. Eric Dippel and colleagues from the Midwest Cardiovascular Research Foundation and the Genesis Heart Institute in Davenport, Iowa, look at immediate results and quality of life 12 months after percutaneous endovascular reconstruction for chronically occluded superficial femoral arteries. Use of a self-expanding nitinol stent achieved a high rate of success and durable results 12 months following the procedure, with significant improvement in quality-of-life. Dr. Lawrence Garcia from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has provided a commentary that addresses this issue. Next, Drs. Sumit Verma and Mark Borganelli from the Pensacola Heart Institute in Pensacola, Florida, describe a new technique that allows real-time 3-dimensional localization of the Brockenbrough needle tip during transseptal catheterization using a nonfluoroscopic mapping system. This technique offers advantages over standard fluoroscopy or 2-dimensional echocardiography. Drs. Jamshid Alaeddini and Kenneth Ellenbogen from the Medical College of Virginia, have provided a commentary that provides a further background on transseptal catheterization and discuss the importance of this research. In the next research article, Dr. Kanarath Balachandran and collaborators from the Bristol Royal Infirmary and the Lanarkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, present their study evaluating the influence of clinical and angiographic factors on global and regional left ventricular function after rescue PCI in acute myocardial infarction. The last research article, by Jean-François Surmely and colleagues from 6 centers in Japan, attempt to demonstrate the safety of a new technique for CTO recanalization which uses a controlled antegrade and retrograde subintimal tracking technique. A commentary by Joseph Carrozza and Lawrence Garcia discusses this technique further. In Clinical Images, Drs. Härle, Reimers and Kuck from the Allgemeines Krankenhaus St. Georg, present images of a giant fistula between the aorta and the coronary sinus. We have also included a Rapid Communications article which outlines a protocol for clopidogrel desensitization in isolated cutaneous reactions. This issue of the Journal includes seven case reports that are published online (www.invasivecardiology.com). In the first online case report, Drs. Aqel, Mehta and Zoghbi from the Birmingham VA Medical Center and University of Alabama, describe a patient who was treated with percutaneous balloon pericardiotomy for the treatment of infected pericardial effusion with tamponade. In the second online case report, Dr. Dursum Aras and colleagues present a case with a rare form of communication between the left internal thoracic artery and left anterior descending artery. Dr. Taral Patel presents a case report looking at the use of ticlopidine and cilostazol after intracoronary drug-eluting stent placement in a patient with previous clopidogrel-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. In the next report, Drs. Cohen, Rivagorda and Elhadad present a case of asymmetric septal hypertrophy complicated by dynamic left ventricular obstruction after intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation placement in the setting of anterior myocardial infarction. The next case report from Dr. Nagarathna Manjappa and colleagues from the S.U.N.Y. Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, describes a patient in whom stent thrombosis occurred very late after placement of a bare-metal stent. Drs. Sedat Turkoglu and Murat Ozdemir from Gazi University School of Medicine in Ankara, Turkey, present a case with anomalous origin of the left circumflex coronary from the right coronary artery and the left anterior descending artery form the right coronary sinus. In the last online case, Drs. Movahed, Vu and Ahsan from the University of California Irvine Medical Center in Irvine, California, present a case demonstrating simultaneous acute stent thrombosis of two drug-eluting stents in the left anterior descending and circumflex coronary arteries. As always, I am hopeful that this issue of the Journal will offer interventional cardiologists important and timely information for the optimal treatment of their patients. Sincerely, Richard E. Shaw, PhD, FACC, FACA Editor-in-Chief