Editor`s Message (July 2003)

Dear Readers, This issue of the Journal of Invasive Cardiology marks the beginning of a new home for the journal and for the editor-in-chief. Management of the journal will now be coordinated from the office of the Joint Cardiac Program of Sutter Health System in San Francisco. The Joint Cardiac Program includes California Pacific Medical Center and St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco, Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae and Novato Community Hospital in Novato, Sutter Medical Center in Santa Rosa and Mills-Peninsula Health Services in Burlingame, California. Editorial activities will continue to be managed from the office in West Bloomfield, Michigan. This change will bring exciting professional opportunities for me and provide a fertile ground for continued growth of the journal, as it addresses the challenges facing cardiovascular specialists. This issue of the Journal includes original research articles, case reports, and articles from two special sections: The Electrophysiology Corner and Intervention in Peripheral Vascular Disease. The first research article, submitted by Drs. Gianni Casella and Francesco Prati on behalf of the Multi-Link PIXEL Multicenter Italian Registry presents the data from this important study looking at one of the greatest challenges facing invasive cardiologists today. Their study shows that this new stent, designed specifically for small vessels, is safe and effective and is associated with a very low rate of target vessel revascularization at 6 months post discharge. Dr. Marie-Claude Morice has provided a commentary for the Casella et al. article. In the second original research article, from Dr. Harold Dauerman and collaborators from a number of Northern New England Medical Centers including University of Vermont College of Medicine, Maine Medical Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Catholic Medical Center and Eastern Maine Medical Center, the experience of these centers in using PCI to treat elderly patients presenting with cardiogenic shock. Over their 10 year experience, the investigators found a mortality rate lower than that reported in randomized trials, and showed that age and absence of collaterals were the most significant predictors of outcome across the entire experience. The next original research article also focuses on the outcomes in patients who present with cardiogenic shock. Dr. Uwe Zeymer and colleagues have presented this trial (the REO-Shock trial) on behalf of 12 community hospitals in Germany comprising the ALLK-Study Group. The study looked at the effect of combining abciximab and primary PCI in the treatment of acute MI patients presenting in cardiogenic shock. They found that the combination was beneficial, especially in patients under the age of 75. In the fourth original research article, Dr. Niall Mulvihill and colleagues from the Unite de Cardiologie Interventionelle, Clinique Pasteur in Toulouse, France present their experience in successfully treating coronary subclavian steal syndrome using a percutaneous approach in patients who had previously has an internal mammary graft placed during coronary bypass surgery. The next original research article, submitted by Dr. Cezar Staniloae and collaborators from the Department of Medicine, Montreal Heart Institute in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, presents their experience in the percutaneous closure of secundum atrial septal defects in adults using the Amplatzer Septal Occluder. They demonstrate that results using the Amplatzer Septal Occluder are equivalent to those achieved with surgical ASD closure. Dr. P. Syamasundar Rao from the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, has provided a commentary for the Staniloae et al. article. The last original research article, submitted by Dr. Nicholas Shammas and colleagues from the Genesis Heart Institute, Cardiovascular Medicine, P.C., and the Genesis Health System in Davenport, Iowa, presents their results using bivalirudin in peripheral vascular interventions in a single-center prospective study. The authors conclude that though the use of bivalirudin during peripheral angioplasty procedures appears feasible and safe, larger registries are needed to confirm these findings. This issue of the Journal also includes several interesting case reports representing unusual clinical presentations. In the first case report, which also includes a literature review, Drs. Hameed, Hanna-Moussa and David from the Division of Cardiology and Heart Institute at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan show their approach to successfully sealing off an epicardial pseudoaneurysm using placement of multiple stents. The second case report, submitted by Drs. Abu-Ful, Weinstein and Henkin from the Cardiology Department at Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel, demonstrates their innovative use of a covered stent to successfully treat iatrogenic aortic dissection that occurred during coronary angioplasty. The next case report, submitted by Aaron Tande and associates from the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, shows their successful use of the percutaneous approach to the closure of a patent foramen ovale 7 years after surgical closure. In the last case report, Drs. Pedra, Sanches and Fontes from the Instituto Dante Pazzanese de Cardiologia in Sao Paulo, Brazil present a case showing their approach to treating atrial septal defects in which they occlude the patent ductus arteriosus with the Amplatz device. The authors provide an excellent discussion of the technique of this novel approach and its potential advantages over others. The authors provide an excellent discussion of treatment alternatives and technical considerations in this challenging clinical scenario. Two of our special clinical sections are featured in this issue. In the first special section, Interventions in Peripheral Vascular Disease, edited by Dr. Frank Criado of the Division of Vascular Surgery at the Union Memorial Hospital/Medstar Health in Baltimore, Maryland, Drs. Syed Bokhari, Omid Vahdat and Rex Winters from the Division of Cardiology at the University of California at Irvine and Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in Long Beach, California report on their experience with a peripheral, self-expanding Nitinol stent to treat saphenous vein graft disease. They show long-term follow-up demonstrating further expansion of the stent. The authors conclude with an excellent review of the literature related to stenting in the treatment of saphenous vein graft disease. In the second special section, the Electrophysiology Corner, edited by Dr. Todd Cohen of the Department of Cardiology at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, New York, Drs. Thomas Faber, Andreas Grom and Manfred Zehender from Universität Klinikum Freiburg in Freiburg, Germany have submitted a paper describing a unique pacemaker complication of thrombus formation in the right internal jugular vein due to an unusual migration of an atrial pacemaker electrode. They suggest that prophylactic anticoagulation be used for patients who have dislodged leads that cannot be removed. It is my hope that all of the articles in this issue of the Journal provide information that is useful for cardiovascular specialists in providing the most optimal care to patients with cardiovascular disease.