We are pleased to announce the 10-year anniversary of Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine (CRM). Ten years ago the journal was dedicated to a new field of medicine called vascular brachytherapy, which emerged as a prevention strategy for restenosis. We called the journal Cardiovascular Radiation Medicine and its audience included cardiologists, radiation oncologists, biologists, physicists, and scientists. Over the years and with the introduction of drug-eluting stents, the role of vascular brachytherapy diminished as a niche product. We then made an editorial decision to shift the journal's focus to cardiology and molecular interventions. The name of the journal was changed to Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine Including Molecular Interventions and it became the official journal of Cardiovascular Research Technologies (CRT). The journal is distributed among the meeting's participants; the majority of the meeting's faculty serves on our editorial board; and we also publish the meeting's best abstracts in a dedicated issue. As we enter into our 10th year, we seek to improve the quality and the diversity of the journal. Over the years our distribution has steadily grown and we hope that within the next few years the journal will be expanded to six issues per year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our contributors, our editorial board, the journal's managing editor, and publisher who have all made CRM what it is toady. I trust that with everyone's help, the journal will only become stronger.
In our first issue of 2009, you will find a summary of the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2008 ‘Hot Line’ sessions presented August 30, 2008, to September 3, 2008, in Munich, Germany. Then presented are three unique clinical original articles. The first, from Nishio et al., aimed to compare the performance of drug-eluting stents with that of bare metal stents with pioglitazone in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Zhang et al. conducted a retrospective study to investigate whether avoidance of cardiopulmonary bypass improved surgical outcomes in dialysis patients. Finally, Saito et al. explored the relationship between the chronic refractory in-stent restenosis and the delayed-type hypersensitivity to the metal components of stainless steel stents.
In our only peripheral intervention submission, Ollivier et al. aimed to estimate the prevalence and identify predictors of renal artery stenosis in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing coronary angiography. Okabe et al., in our sole imaging submission, aimed to evaluate the relationship between coronary artery calcium scoring and intravascular ultrasound calcification and disease severity. In their review submission, Tan et al. aimed to review the risk and management of upper gastrointestinal bleeding complications post percutaneous coronary intervention for patients on dual antiplatelet therapy. The first of our new technology submissions comes to us from Liebowitz et al. in which they discuss the computerized angioplasty pressure sensor and inflator device (CAPSID) for gradual inflation, developed to minimize mechanical trauma to the vessel wall during balloon inflation. Ungi et al. then present a computerized, densitometric measurement method to assess myocardial perfusion on phase-matched digitally subtracted coronary angiograms.
The first of five case reports comes from Layland et al. in which a case of drug-eluting stent thrombosis 2037 days after initial implantation in a 57-year-old man who presented with an acute anterior ST-elevation myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock is discussed. Sarkees et al. then present what they believe is the latest bare metal stent thrombosis case reported, to date, in the literature. Kansal and Vidovich describe the case of a 45-year-old male who was referred for cardiac catheterization after recurrent complaints of atypical chest discomfort. Next, Favero et al. present a case of massive renal hemorrhage in a 69-year-old female with acute coronary syndrome on full antithrombotic therapy undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. Saito et al. then present the case of a 74-year-old man with left ventricular failure and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia. Our image of the issue, from Di Girolamo et al., depicts positive coronary artery remodeling (detected for the first time by intravascular ultrasound) due to cell proliferation between the stent struts and the tunica media of the vessel wall.
In the midst of a global economic crisis, we are all concerned about its impact on health care, medical education, and academically published literature. With the health care reform, we are committed to looking more closely at cost and cost-effectiveness. We welcome your thoughts and proposed cardiology studies that shed light on the cost-effectiveness of old and new modalities. Please share these ideas with us for publication consideration in upcoming issues of the journal.
FULL TEXT