Editor`s Message

Dear Readers,

This issue of the Journal of Invasive Cardiology coincides with the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics 2011 meeting being held in San Francisco, California.  The goal of both this meeting and the journal 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 supplement the knowledge gained from the TCT meeting to promote more effective treatment of cardiovascular disease patients. 

In the first original research selection, Dr. Yumiko Kanei and colleagues from Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts report on their investigation of the impact of iso-osmolar contrast use in emergent PCI for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Drs. Shea Hogan and Hitinder Gurm from the University of Michigan Medical Center have provided a commentary to accompany the article by Kanei et al. In the next article, Dr. Kenichi Sakakura and colleagues from the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Integrated Medicine at Jichi Medical University Saitama Medical Center present the results of their study comparing resource utilization between simultaneous strategy and staged strategy to treat two-vessel coronary artery disease using PCI. Dr Josef Veselka and collaborators from the Cardiovascular Center, University Hospital Motol, 2nd Medical School, Charles University present the results of their study comparing dual-source CT angiography with IVUS and coronary angiography for the  detection and quantification of in-stent restenosis in the left main coronary artery. Dr. Harvey Hecht from Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute in New York has provided a commentary to accompany the article by Veselka et al. In the final original research selection, Dr. Giedrius Davidavicius and colleagues from the Interventional Cardiology Units at San Raffaele Scientific Institute and the EMO-GVM Centro Cuore Columbus in Milan, Italy and Vilnius University Hospital in Vilnius, Lithuania present their research study on the use of high dose adenosine compared to rapid pacing to induce transient asystole for valvuloplasty in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Drs. Abhisekh Deshmukh and Rajesh Sachdeva from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences have provided a commentary to accompany the Davidavicius et al article. 

This issue also contains selections from the New Techniques and Rapid Communication sections, a review article and an editorial. The new technique selection is from Drs. Gregory Sgueglia, Daniel Todaro and Antonio Stipo from Ospedale Santa Maria Goretti in Latina, Italy and presents their experience using simultaneous inflation of two drug-eluting balloons for the treatment of coronary bifurcation restenosis. In the first Rapid Communication selection, Drs. Ahmad Zankar, Emmanouil Brilakis and Subhash Banerjee from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and VA North Texas Health Care System in Dallas, Texas provide data on their use of embolic capture angioplasty for the treatment of occluded superficial femoral artery segments. Next, Drs. Vineet Dandekar and Adhir Shroff cover the important issue of high risk PCI and the feasibility of using the transradial approach when left circulatory assist devices are needed. The last selection in this section is a review from Dr. Pedro Beraldo de Andrade and colleagues from Santa Casa de Marilia in Marilia, Brazil, Hospital do Coracao de Londrina in Londrina, Brazil and Instituto Dante Pazzanese de Cardiologia in Sao Paulo, Brazil covering the topic of major bleeding in acute coronary syndromes. We’ve also featured a thought-provoking editorial from Dr. Gerald Dorros and Adam Pressman on the limitations of using World Health Organization mortality rankings to assess the quality of medicine and cardiovascular care in the United States.

Articles published in our “Online Exclusive” section this month include a case of proximal right coronary artery diverticulum resulting in recurrent distal embolization successfully treated with a covered stent, successful endovascular treatment of residual Type A aortic dissection preserving the patency of supra aortic vessels, demonstration of facilitated PCI with the GuideLiner catheter, the successful management of a late presentation exercise-induced spontaneous left anterior descending artery dissection, percutaneous treatment of a suspected embolic left main thrombosis in a patient with a mechanical aortic valve, a case showing complex regional pain syndrome as a complication of transfemoral catheterization and a case and  brief literature review of approaches to traversing radial artery loop. 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. Also take advantage of our technologies with links to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn from our home page for interesting discussions of important topics. And if you are attending the TCT meeting in San Francisco, have a wonderful and productive learning experience.

Sincerely,

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