Foreword

Article Outline

• Copyright

The cardiac catheterization laboratory has gone through many changes in the last 60 to 65 years. The early 1960s initiated the era of the addition of diagnostic coronary arteriography and also that of percutaneous interventional therapy (Rahimtoola SH. Editorial. Circulation 1987;75:895-901).

The introduction of percutaneous coronary intervention in clinical practice in 1980 was revolutionary. Initially it was simply PTCA; with use of stents, outcomes were improved. The use of drug-eluting stents with greatly improved outcomes has had an important effect. At present, one important question that frequently arises is: Which lesion(s) should not be intervened on? This question has demanded that one should have knowledge and understanding of coronary pathophysiology, which in practical terms has necessitated the use of coronary pressure and flow wires.

Doctors Lim and Kern provide an up to date, comprehensive and authoritative review of this topic in this issue of Current Problems in Cardiology. Dr. Charanjit S. Rihal^⁎ had provided an expert commentary.

The Editorial board and I are grateful to all of them for their most valuable efforts.

• ⁎ Charanjit S. Rihal, MD, MBA, is Professor of Medicine in the Mayo Medical School and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.