The Importance of Collaboration

The recent 2012 Olympic competitions in London have demonstrated the critical role that collaboration plays in achieving successful outcomes. The same is true for successful clinical research. Whether it is local collaboration or work that extends across the oceans, collaboration is key for success. There are many selections in this issue of the Journal of Invasive Cardiology that highlight the importance of collaboration. In addition to these important articles, this issue also includes abstracts from the 1st Advanced International Masterclass AIM-Radial meeting held this month in Québec City, Canada (published online first) and a thought-provoking article from Drs Emmanouil Brilakis and Vishal Patel reminding us all of the dangers associated with radiation.

In the first original research article, Dr Bina Ahmed and colleagues from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine report on their study defining the appropriate timing for using nitroglycerin during intravascular ultrasound. In the next research selection, Dr Shigeru Saito and collaborators from Japanese and American institutions report midterm results for the everolimus-eluting stent in a Japanese population compared to a US randomized cohort. In another selection from our Japanese colleagues, Dr Makoto Suzuki and associates present their analysis of the impact of chronic total coronary occlusion on microvascular reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction patients. In another study from Japan, Dr Nozomu Tamai and colleagues present the results of their study evaluating sodium bicarbonate for the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy.  The next selection, by Dr Roland Prondzinsky and colleagues from Germany, shows their novel approach of transcoronary pacing in an animal model. And the final original research selection from Dr Zakhia Saliba and collaborators report on their analysis of failures of percutaneous closure of the patent ductus arteriosis.

Articles from the Radial Access Technique and TAVR special sections are also included in this issue. The radial access technique selection focuses on managing catheter kinking during transradial procedures, with Dr Alain Waked and colleagues from Staten Island, New York presenting a case showing entrapment of a looped/kinked catheter in the brachial artery and successful retrieval during transradial coronary catheterization. The two articles in the TAVR section focus on technical issues and complications, with Dr Enio Guérios and collaborators from Switzerland and Brazil showing successful treatment of a malpositioned transcatheter aortic valve using a second valve implantation and Dr Luis Nombela-Franco and colleagues from Spain and Canada describing a novel mechanism of paravalvular leak.    

This issue also contains selections from the Review and New Technique special sections. Dr Mehmood Zeb and colleagues from the United Kingdom present a case and review of the treatment of coronary aneurysms with covered stents. Dr Ehrin Armstrong and colleagues from Sacramento and Travis Air Force Base in California describe a new technique using intracardiac echocardiography to guide percutaneous closure of atrial baffle defects. 

Articles published in our “Online Exclusive” section this month include selections from our Clinical Images and Radial Access sections. The Clinical Image selection, from Dr Milosz Jaguszewski and collaborators from Poland and Switzerland, shows a case of a percutaneous approach of posttraumatic left coronary artery fistula repair. In the Radial Access selection, Dr Jamie Layland and associates from East Kilbride, Scotland report on a novel method of rescuing a kinked catheter from the axillary artery using a balloon retrieval technique.

The Online Exclusives also include a case showing innovative use of a thrombus aspiration catheter, an example of myocardial infarction caused by ostial right coronary thrombus in the absence of atheromatosis, the use of a drug-eluting stent and balloon to treat recurrent carotid stenosis, a case showing the need to tailor treatment in the setting of spontaneous coronary dissection, a patient demonstrating the importance of collateral circulation, the feasibility of delivering a stent through a 5-French catheter and a case demonstrating the use of a percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation in the left pulmonary artery branch to treat a patient with a functional single lung. These selections can be found on our website (www.invasivecardiology.com), as well as any past issues of the journal that you may have missed. I hope that this issue of the journal provides all of you with information that is important to the care of your patients.

Sincerely,

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