This supplement, the first of many that will be published by EuroIntervention, is the continuation of our commitment to the advancement of interventional medicine. If you look through this current issue, you will see, in the article by Albert Starr, a series of photos taken over 30 years ago of the results of the early years of valve replacement, the patients...now we may not be 30 ourselves – EuroIntervention is just celebrating its first year of publication – but this special edition marks a new maturity for our Journal, the fruit and concretization of our many and continually developing interests.
This issue touches on the wide variety of topics that animate the Transcatheter Valve Symposium (TVS), ranging from the American and European prospectives on the approval of new devices, onto atrioventricular valves, pulmonary valves, techniques such as cardiac computed tomography and much more on techniques and devices as well.
It will come as no surprise that our guest editors are Philipp Bonhoeffer and Carlos Ruiz, the organisers and course directors of the annual Transcatheter Valve Symposium itself, and it will appear completely natural that the extent of our collaboration will not be limited to this journal alone, but to the meetings themselves.
The future implications for transcatheter techniques for heart valve implantation in paediatric and adult cardiology have continued to grow and attract increased interest. Designed for researchers, interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons, the symposium has been a comprehensive source for existing prosthetic valve technology as applied to transcatheter techniques. This year I had the pleasure of joining as course co-director, personally witnessing the growth in force of this symposium, each year facing larger and larger audiences. TVS’s presence is felt, as well, during the EuroPCR 2006, with a plenary session on the emergence of percutaneous valve interventions, providing an overview of the latest results of these techniques, and a “Glimpse into the Future” session on percutaneous valve treatment.
And the future holds greater collaboration still, with next year’s EuroPCR 2007, newly established in Barcelona, joining with TVS, offering the symposium during our course itself.
We want to take this opportunity to especially thank the Supplements Editors of EuroIntervention, Alec Vahanian and Pieter Kappetein, who’s commitment to including as wide and engaging a viewpoint as possible will help inform this journal in the upcoming years.
And now, please join me in reading our first EuroIntervention Supplement...
