Editor`s Message

Dear Readers,

This month’s issue of the Journal of Invasive Cardiology features cutting-edge research and new techniques that will ensure today’s clinicians are up-to-date on the latest developments in the effective management of cardiovascular disease.

In our first original research selection, Dr. Barbara Stähli and colleagues from the Department of Cardiology and Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery, the Department of Anesthesiology, and the Institute for Diagnostic Radiology at University Hospital in Zürich, Switzerland report on their application of standardized endpoint definitions by the Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC) for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) outcomes. Dr. Gregory Giugliano of the editorial board and Dr. Amir S. Lotfi, both from Tufts University School of Medicine in Springfield, Massachusetts, have provided an intriguing commentary on this article. In our second research article, Dr. Samah Abdul-Rahman and colleagues from the Cardiology Department at Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt present the results of their prospective, randomized trial comparing routine invasive versus ischemia-guided strategies in patients with acute inferior STEMI who received thrombolytic therapy. Our third research contribution, by Dr. Dwight Dishmon and collaborators from the Borgess Heart Institute and Borgess Research Institute in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is a report on the high incidence of inaccurate stent placement in the treatment of aorto-ostial coronary disease. Dr. Tak Kwan of the editorial board has provided a commentary to accompany the Dishmon et al article. In the fourth original research selection, Dr. Sune Pedersen and collaborators from Gentofte University Hospital, Department of Cardiology in Copenhagen, Denmark present the results of their single-center study of long-term clinical outcomes in STEMI patients treated with primary PCI and drug-eluting or bare-metal stents; this article is accompanied by an insightful commentary by Dr. Ruchira Glaser of the editorial board. The final original research article, by Dr. Cihan Simsek and colleagues from the Thoraxcenter, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands, presents a comparison of the 6-year clinical outcomes of sirolimus- and paclitaxel-eluting stents to bare-metal stents in patients with STEMI using the RESEARCH (Rapamycin-Eluting Stent Evaluated at the Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital) and the T-SEARCH (Taxus-Stent Evaluated at the Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital) registries. Drs. Estefanía Oliveros, Ana I. Flores, and Sameer Mehta from the University of Miami in Miami, Florida, provide an astute commentary on this topic.

This issue also contains articles from the new techniques, clinical images, and complex case interventions sections. The new technique selection is from Drs. Matthew LaBarbera, Daniel Nathanson and Peter Hui from the Division of Cardiology and the Vascular Institute at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, California and presents their successful percutaneous closure of an aortocaval fistula using the Amplatzer muscular VSD occluder device. In the clinical image selection, Drs. Ashish Pershad, Amit Srivastava and Claudia Dima from the Heart and Vascular Center of Arizona, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center Interventional Fellowship Program in Phoenix, Arizona describe a case of an unusual anatomic variance with a pulseless right groin and bounding distal pulses; editorial board member Dr. Robert Dieter of Loyola University, Stritch School of Medicine and Hines VA Cardiology and Dr. Aravinda Nanjundappahas of West Virginia University School of Medicine in Charleston, West Virginia, have written a thoughtful commentary to accompany this article. In the complex case intervention section, Dr. Michael Liang and colleagues from the Department of Cardiology, Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, New Zealand present a case involving post-transcoronary ethanol septal ablation infective endocarditis complicated by a ventricular septal defect.

Articles published in our “Online Exclusive” section this month include a case of entrapped stent-balloon showing the potential contribution of open-cell stent design to the entrapment; a demonstration of successful repair of an endoleak type with coiling of the inferior mesenteric artery; the utility of a balloon pump for managing hypotension during carotid artery stenting in a patient with severe aortic stenosis; a case showing primary malignant pericardial mesothelioma presenting as effusive pericarditis; the treatment of a patient with very late stent thrombosis; treatment of a patient with combined percutaneous transfemoral mitral valvuloplasty and aortic valve implantation; a case showing the importance of evolving imaging and procedural capabilities in the endovascular treatment of infrarenal aortic stenosis; and the use of the pharmacomechanic approach for restoration of flow in occluded ectatic right coronary artery with a huge thrombus burden. These selections can be found on our website and I encourage you to visit www.invasivecardiology.com to read and comment on these informative articles, as well as to explore our selection of cardiology blogs and past issues of the Journal that you may have missed. Also, take advantage of our technologies with links to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn from our home page for engaging discussions on important topics.

Sincerely,

Richard E. Shaw, PhD, FACC, FACA
Editor-in-Chief