Editor`s Message

Dear Readers,

The goal of the Journal of Invasive Cardiology is to provide state-of-the-art information that will support clinicians in the effective management of patients with cardiovascular disease.  There are many selections in this issue that I hope readers will find useful in their clinical practice and will promote more effective treatment of cardiovascular disease patients. 

In the first original research selection, Dr. Subhash Banerjee and colleagues from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and VA North Texas Health Care System in Dallas, Texas present the results of their study evaluating the relationship of walking impairment and ankle brachial index assessments with peripheral arterial translesional pressure gradients. Dr. Craig Walker from the Cardiovascular Institute of the South in Houma, Louisiana has provided a commentary to accompany the Banerjee et al article. Dr. Erik Hedström and colleagues from Lund University Hospital and Lund University in Lund, Sweden report on their investigation of inflammatory responses, matrix remodeling and reactive oxygen species following PCI in acute ischemic myocardial injury. Dr. Cezar Staniloae and collaborators from the Cardiac and Vascular Institute at NYU Medical Center and the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Saint Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers in New York, New York present the results of their study of endoluminal treatment of peripheral chronic total occlusions using the Crosser recanalization catheter. Dr. Frank Criado from the Union Memorial Hospital/Medstar Health in Baltimore has provided a commentary to accompany the Banerjee et al article.

In the next original research selection, Dr. E. Meliga and associates from the Interventional Cardiology Unit, Mauriziano Hospital in Turin, Italy, Degli Infermi Hospital in Rivoli, Italy and Santa Croce Hospital in Moncalieri, Italy present the results of the Stent-in-Stent Cube (SIS3) Registry using a new drug-eluting stent implantation for recalcitrant in-stent restenosis treated with drug-eluting stents. Dr. Sandeep Nathan from the University of Chicago has provided a commentary to accompany the Meliga et al article. In the final original research selection, Dr. Danny Dvir and colleagues from Rabin Medical Center in Petah-Tikva, Israel present their research demonstrating the use of transcatheter aortic and mitral valve implantation for failed bioprosthetic heart valves.

This issue also contains selections from the clinical images section, the new techniques section and a special Point/Counterpoint discussion on optimal PCI access. In the clinical image selection, Drs. Aristotelis Papayannis, Subhash Banerjee and Emmanouil Brilakis from VA North Texas Healthcare System and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas describe a case showing the management of an unusual type of intra-aortic balloon pump dysfunction. The new technique selection is from Drs. Manjunath Nanjappa, Prabhavathi Bhat and Arunkumar Panneerselvam from the Department of Cardiology, Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research in Bangalore, India and presents their successful use of a modified technique of balloon mitral valvotomy for treating severe submitral stenosis.  The last selection begins a point/counterpoint discussion between Drs. Ricardo Escarcega, Riyaz Bashir and Jon George from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia and the Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Brown Mills, New Jersey and Dr. John  Douglas from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.  This month, Drs. Escarcega, Bashir and George argue that the radial access is the optimal PCI access approach. Next month, Dr. Douglas will present the reasons behind his preference for using the femoral approach. I hope that you find this format interesting and informative. 

Articles published in our “Online Exclusive” section this month include a case where intraventricular stent loss occurred after interventional treatment of a coronary dissection, a case demonstrating multimodality imaging to diagnose pulmonary vein stenosis following atrial fibrillation ablation, a case showing the use of transradial PCI to treat an isolated single L-I type coronary artery with severe LAD lesions, the use of PCI to treat complete heart block in late presentation of inferior STEMI, a case showing optical coherence tomography findings during an evolving stent thrombosis, and a case demonstrating the potential for rotational ablation dissections that can occur in the treatment of calcific lesions in acute myocardial infarction. These selections can be found on our website and I encourage you to visit www.invasivecardiology.com to read these interesting and informative articles, as well as any past issues of the journal that you may have missed. While visiting the website, follow the links to Twitter, Facebook and/or LinkedIn to read and take part in interesting discussions of published articles and important topics regarding cardiovascular disease treatment.

Sincerely,

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