This is the third and last issue of Interventional Cardiology Review in 2015. It has been a year of consolidation rather than breakthrough. Important trials relating to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), bifurcations and chronic total occlusions (CTOs) are ongoing with results having the potential to transform standard practice in both coronary and structural interventions. Various technologies for percutaneous mitral valve intervention remain under intense scrutiny; the prevalence of mitral incompetence makes this an important field, but the complexity of the interaction between the mitral valve and the left ventricle – which mitral interventions attempt to repair or replace – has made progress in this field slow.
Interventional Cardiology Review aims to deliver expert commentary on all developments in the field. The world of TAVI remains dominated by the need for results of randomised trials comparing outcomes following TAVI and conventional aortic valve replacement in intermediate risk patients. In the absence of any such data, it is perhaps not surprising that articles relating to coronary, rather than structural, interventions dominate this issue – and that of the three ‘structural’ articles, one relates to (minimally invasive) aortic valve surgery. This article, contributed by Boix-Garibo et al, provides welcome evidence that advances in transcatheter interventions can stimulate developments in surgical procedures, and is a valuable update for all cardiologists who refer patients for aortic valve intervention. Excellent articles on TAVI in patients with small anatomy and the use of computed tomography assessment to guide structural interventions complete the structural section of this issue.
In the coronary section Rampat and Hildick-Smith provide a timely review of existing data and ongoing trials relating to left main stem interventions. There is no consensus on how to treat spontaneous coronary artery dissections, but Saw analyses and summarises the published experience in this field.
I would like to thank all contributors to the 2015 volume of Interventional Cardiology Review.
I look forward with keen anticipation to 2016.