Editorial Note

Article Outline

• Copyright

This issue is published a few weeks after the conclusion of CRT 2010, of which Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine (CRM) is the official journal. The meeting was an outstanding scientific event which covered a wide variety of topics within the cardiovascular field. In addition, over 170 scientific abstracts were presented at the meeting; the best of which will be published in the upcoming issues of our journal. I also would like to welcome the hundreds of new subscribers to our journal and hope that they find the content both interesting and informative.

For this issue, we selected four original clinical articles: in the leading article, Flores-Ramirez et al. aimed to analyze the effectiveness of intracoronary infusion of CD133+ in patients with moderate to severe post-infarct heart failure to improve heart function and quality of life. Koutouzis et al. then retrospectively compared the results of the radial vs. femoral approach in patients ≥80 years old undergoing primary or rescue percutaneous coronary intervention. In their submission, Kaluski et al. aimed to assess the effects of shortened door-to-intervention times on appropriate clinical decisions regarding the four most critical and costly determinations made during primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Syed et al. aimed to report the in-hospital and 30-day event rates in patients undergoing nonemergent, high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention and to evaluate whether the Impella Recover LP 2.5 device demonstrates superiority over intra-aortic balloon pump in the Protect II (A Prospective Feasibility Trial Investigating the Use of the Impella Recover LP 2.5 System in Patients Undergoing High Risk Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) study. They found that the overall in-hospital and 30-day event rates were low (15.3% and 21.3%, respectively) with a low major vascular complication rate (5.9%).

In our imaging section, Joshi et al., using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, found that coronary artery bypass surgery resulted in a statistically significant increase in right ventricular ejection fraction when assessed late postoperatively. In their technology submission, Kumar and Mathew aimed to employ the finite element method to evaluate the impact of varying design parameters on the radial force of stents. And Ben-Dor et al., in their review article, focused on risk assessment in high operative risk or inoperable patients, a prerequisite for inclusion in one of the PARTNER trials using the Edwards SAPIEN prosthetic heart valve.

As we continue to face challenges regarding health care reform, we continue to experience difficulties in trying to launch new technologies; the bar is set so high regarding approval and reimbursement that it has become prohibitive for many start-up companies. Nevertheless, publishing the data on new technologies and early experiences can stimulate interest and subsequently increase the demand for the technology, thereby making it readily available to our patients. I would like to call for the publication of innovative technologies and strategies because the benefits they provide to our patients are immense. The publication of papers in peer-reviewed journals such as CRM and others can help, so use this opportunity and submit. It is free.