Foreword

It is with great pleasure that I introduce a superb addition to the “modern era” cardiovascular educational literature, the Second Edition of Interventional Cardiology, co-edited by Drs. Samady, Fearon, Yeung, and King. This updated and comprehensive textbook brings to life the full breadth of interventional cardiovascular medicine. It will become a mandatory resource for the broad community of healthcare professionals in this expanding and evolving subspecialty.

During the 40^th year anniversary of the first PCTA and the 15^th year anniversary of the first TAVR, it is timely to reflect on the dramatic changes that have shaped interventional cardiology over time. The original dream of Andreas Gruentzig in 1977 was to achieve catheter-based percutaneous treatment of vascular disease in alert, awake patients, a dream that was considered heresy by some and fanciful by most cogent observers. Over four decades of determined iteration, refinement, and innovation, the use of less invasive, transcatheter (non-surgical) diagnosis, and therapy has transformed medicine. To extend Gruentzig’s dream to widespread clinical practice required: (1) an evolution in technologies (from balloons to stents with local drug delivery); (2) the development of clinical research methodologies (evidence-based clinical trials and resulting society guidelines); (3) improvements in operator skills with a focus on life-long training; (4) the adoption of new practice management strategies (including optimal use of adjunctive pharmacotherapy and the application of diagnostic intravascular imaging and physiology to direct therapy decisions); (5) an expansion of interventional concepts to new nonvascular clinical targets such as structural heart disease (best embodied by the TAVR breakthrough technology); and (6) acceptance that a multi-disciplinary Heart Team approach should become the standard for optimal diagnosis and treatment of patients with complex cardiovascular disease.

This revised textbook Interventional Cardiology captures the aforementioned evolutionary journey with carefully organized content that is well illustrated and referenced and emphasizes practical aspects of procedures, techniques, therapies, and clinical care pathways. The 9 sections and 78 chapters provide a remarkable in-depth compendium of the essential body of knowledge in interventional cardiology through 2017. Moreover, important ancillary topics such as medical management of risk factors, an understanding of evidence-based clinical trials, reimbursement and socioeconomic issues, and the principles of interventional device innovation are thoughtfully addressed. The co-editors of this impressive Second Edition of Interventional Cardiology should be congratulated for amassing a landmark reference that represents the most up-to-date, all-inclusive, and practical resource of its kind, which undoubtedly will be embraced by interventionalists around the world.