November 2012 Issue Highlights

This issue of the Journal of Invasive Cardiology coincides with the Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. As this meeting brings together world experts to present and discuss advances in the field of cardiovascular medicine, this issue of the journal includes articles highlighting the application of advanced diagnostic techniques, support devices and new therapeutic approaches to improve patient care.  Dr. Remo Beeler and colleagues describe their approach to the sequential use of bare metal stents and drug eluting balloons to treat coronary artery stenoses. Dr. Seung-Yul Lee and collaborators show changes in strut coverage of drug-eluting stents placed across side branches using serial optical coherence tomography.  In a similar study using serial measurements, Dr. Guilherme Attizzani and colleagues present optical coherence and histopathology evaluation of vascular response in a new sirolimus-eluting stent. Drs. Rasha Ammar and Ranya Hegazy report their evaluation of the safety and efficacy of treating medium and large PDAs in infants using Amplatzer Duct Occluder I and II devices. Dr. Philipp Lauten and colleagues from Jena, Germany have provided their evaluation of intra-aortic counterpulsation for hemodynamic support in heart failure patients. Dr. Adam Saltzman and collaborators report on their comparison of surgical pericardial drainage with percutaneous catheter drainage for pericardial effusion.  The last original research article comes from Dr. Kennosuke Yamashita and colleagues describing their use of second generation stents to treat restenosis of first generation devices.

This issue also includes articles from the Radial Access Technique and TAVR special sections, with Dr. Ehab Kasasbeh and colleagues presenting an interesting evaluation of parameters related to the learning curve in transradial cardiac catheterization, Dr. Sung Woo Kwon and collaborators showing the advantages of the transradial approach in patients with intractable back pain and Dr. David Black and associates highlighting the utility of 3-D echocardiography in assessing aortic valve annulus prior to balloon valvuloplasty in congenital patents.

Interesting selections are also included from the Rapid Communication, New Technique, Clinical Images and Review sections. Drs. Stackhouse and colleagues from Cleveland Clinic offer some interesting perspectives and data on the CLOSURE study. Drs. Jeffrey Cook, Barry Uretsky and Rajesh Sachdeva have provided a review of intervention in occluded vein grafts. Drs. Ilana Spokoyny, Matthew LaBarbera and Marina Trilesskaya present interesting images showing the anomalous origin of an RCA with intramural aortic course causing exercise-induced cardiac arrest.
Articles published online this month include a case series showing a relationship between myocardial bridges and arrhythmic complications, a case of coronary to bronchial artery fistula, direct aspiration of large thrombi in AMI using a standard 6-Fr guide catheter via the transradial approach, a case showing catheter-based left atrial appendage ligation with the LARIAT suture deliver system, the use of intracardiac aspiration for a life-threatening air embolism during cardiac catheterization of a child with Tetralogy of Fallot, the management of a patient with dislocation of an infected and abandoned pacemaker lead, and a case with catheter-induced bilateral coronary ostium dissection in a patient with long-term steroid therapy. 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 information that is important to the care of your patients.

Sincerely,

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