Jul-08

This issue of the Journal of Invasive Cardiology continues our series of special focus sections to provide a more detailed examination of important topics in cardiovascular medicine. This month’s focus is on the various uses of Cardiac Computed Tomography, and the guest editor is Dr. Guy Weigold, Director of Cardiac CT at the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. Dr. Weigold has provided an introduction to the section and the articles that are featured this month. In addition to the focus section, this issue includes additional original research articles, commentaries, a review article, and a case description with interesting clinical images.
Articles published online this month include case reports highlighting the management of a patient in which a coronary stent was unintentionally extracted during a cutting balloon procedure to treat in-stent restenosis, use of a right ventricular assist device as a support for cardiogenic shock caused by a right ventricular infarction, treatment of a superficial femoral artery occlusion caused by fibromuscular dysplasia, management of an intramyocardial hematoma after coronary perforation during PCI, long-term survival using balloon pump and a percutaneous right ventricular assist device for biventricular support in the setting of cardiogenic shock, use of percutaneous arterial closure for the inadvertent cannulation of the subclavian artery, treatment of a trifurcation lesion with simultaneous triple-balloon inflation, and an unusual presentation of acute myocardial infarction due to coronary spasm in a myocardial bridge. These articles can be found on our Website at: www.invasivecardiology.com. I encourage you to read these interesting and informative clinical reports, as well as any articles from past issues of the journal that you may have missed.
The original research articles contained in this issue of the journal cover a variety of topics relevant to cardiovascular medicine. Dr. Jonathan Marmur and associates present their study to determine the feasibility of employing ACT to guide intravenous dalteparin dosing during PCI. Dr. Mitchell Rashid and colleagues report on their study of the benefit in using extravascular closure for patients who are at risk due to femoral anatomical features. Drs. Amjad AlMahameed and Lawrence Garcia from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, have provided a commentary to accompany this article. Dr. Dean Kereiakes and collaborators from a number of U.S. and international centers have provided results of the COSTAR II randomized trial reporting on clinical and angiographic outcomes in diabetic patients following single- or multivessel stenting. Dr. Shahid Aziz and colleagues present their research on lesion and procedural characteristics associated with an increase in stent dimension following postdilatation after coronary stent deployment. Dr. James Blankenship has provided a commentary to accompany this article. In the next original research article, Dr. Alexander Georgakis and colleagues report on their evaluation of the risk of thrombogenicity among nonionic radiocontrast agents. Dr. Gianfranco Butera and associates present the experience of their center in using percutaneous stent implantation to treat ductal origin of the distal pulmonary artery in low-weight newborns. And in the last original research article, Dr. Etsuo Tsuchikane and colleagues report on their research using a novel catheter system for percutaneous intracoronary artery cardiomyoplasty. Also included in this issue is a review article from Dr. Tim Fischell of the Heart Institute at Borgess in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in which he provides a comprehensive discussion and important insights into pharmaceutical adjuncts for the management of angiographic no-reflow.
The issue is completed with a clinical images selection from Drs. Wyss, Steffel and Luscher from the University Hospital in Zürich. They present several interesting images from a patient who had an isolated acute iatrogenic aortic dissection during PCI without involvement of the coronary arteries.
It is my hope that these articles and the special focus on cardiac computed tomography will provide timely information and new insights into cardiovascular treatment.

Sincerely,

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