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 to promote more effective treatment of cardiovascular disease patients. 

First, I would like to welcome Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH to an increased role with the journal as Senior Associate Editor. Dr Bhatt brings a vast research and publication experience to JIC from his leadership roles in multiple academic organizations and his widespread publication of cutting-edge research in major medical journals. Dr Bhatt is Chief of Cardiology at VA Boston Healthcare System and Director of the Integrated Interventional Cardiovascular Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and VA Boston Healthcare System. He is also a Senior Investigator in the TIMI Study Group and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His expertise and depth of experience will contribute to the growth of JIC and its prominence in the world of cardiology publications.

In the first research article in this issue, Dr Gennaro Galassso and associates from the Department of Clinical Medicine, Cardiovascular Sciences and Immunology, Federico II University in Naples, Italy present their prospective registry of the use of the Endeavor Resolute Zotarolimus stent in daily clinical practice. In the next original research selection, Dr Nicolas Shammas and colleagues from the Midwest Cardiovascular Research Foundation and the Genesis Health System in Davenport, Iowa report on their analysis of gender differences in patients treated with the Zotarolimus-eluting stent.  Drs Puja B. Parikh and Luis Gruberg have provided a commentary to accompany this article. Dr Bryan Schwartz and colleagues from Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, California and the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, report on the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent an aggressive approach to revascularization using multiple devices for patients with peripheral artery disease, including patients with critical limb ischemia. Next, Dr Sang-Yup Lim and collaborators from Korea University Ansan Hospital, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University Boramae Municipal Hospital, Jeju National University Hospital and Chungbuk National University Hospital report the efficacy and safety of the PRO-Kinetic metal alloy stent in hospitalized acute STEMI patients from the PROMETHEUS study. Dr Nazmi Krasniqi and colleagues from the Department of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Center, University Hospital in Zurich present their analysis showing the effect of the Amplatzer Occluder on percutaneous closure of the patent foramen ovale and valvular function. In the next selection, Dr Michael Lee and collaborators from the Division of Cardiology at UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, Division of Pediatric Cardiology and Division of Cardiology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas and the Division of Cardiology, Dong-A University Medical Center in Busan, South Korea present the results of their long-term study of outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention in transplant coronary artery disease in pediatric heart transplant recipients. The final original research selection is also a TAVR special section article. Drs Ulrike Krumsdorf and colleagues from the Departments of Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Heidelberg in Heidelberg, Germany present their research on C-reactive protein and its prognostic value after TAV implantation.

Next in the TAVR section, Drs Norio Tada, Tatsuchi Ootomo and Taiichiro Meguro from the Cardiovascular Center, Sendai Kousei Hospital in Aoba, Japan present their study using focused forced aortic valvuloplasty using the buddy- catheter technique to increase valve area and reduce restenosis.  In the special section devoted to Radial Access Technique, Dr Adel Aminian and colleagues from the Division of Cardiology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Charleroi in Charleroi, Belgium describe their case series showing the importance of a hydrophilic coronary wire in anatomically challenging transradial access. In the second selection, Drs William Suh and Morton Kern from the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles and the University of California, Irvine Medical Center in Orange, California present their approach to coronary and bypass graft angiography via the right radial approach.    

The Rapid Communication selection this month is from Dr David Rizik and associates from the Scottsdale Heart Group and Scottsdale Healthcare Hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona and reports the initial human experience with the XIENCE side-branch access device. The Brief Communication article is from Dr Edo Kaluski and colleagues from UMDNJ, Cardiology in Newark, New Jersey and provides an interesting discussion of the limitations of the SYNTAX score. In the Clinical Images selection, Drs Vakhtang Tchantchaleishvili, Ibrahim Abdulla and Sary Aranki from the Division of Cardiac Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts show images of a case that developed pseudoaneurysm at the left coronary artery anastomosis site after the Bentall procedure. Please go to our website to see a video of the procedure (www.invasivecardiology.com).

Articles published in our “Online Exclusive” section this month include a case showing the transcatheter closure of a left ventricular pseudoaneurysm, the use of a perfusion balloon to seal a perforation of the left main trunk, the long-term successful management of a patient with Factor VII deficiency using percutaneous coronary intervention, resolution of a situation of longitudinal stent compression using the struts of another stent, a case and review of the literature on the successful management of a lower-extremity distal embolization following percutaneous atherectomy, presentation of a rare case of a coronary vascular ring arising from an anomalous single coronary artery, and the use of intravascular ultrasound and pharmacological stress test to evaluate the anomalous origin of the right coronary artery. These selections can all be found on our website, as well as any past issues of the Journal that you may have missed. Also take advantage of our links to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to follow additional interesting discussions of these articles and related topics.

Sincerely,

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