EuroIntervention and EuroPCR 2009

A heavenly relationship

This year's Course has been described by many as a “truly ′Grand Cru'”, but what does that mean?
We are all aware that it's not just the happy and sometimes accidental coincidence of excellent conditions that make this happen, but the relentless commitment to our well thought out goals and protocols, as well as a meticulous attention to the smallest details. Our success is defined by our desire to construct a future firmly grounded in our traditions, underlining the continuity and encouraging the cohesive progression of our specialty. All this based on a balanced and vibrant collaboration between all our partners, whether they be institutional, health professionals, independent specialists or industry.
Together, we have shown we can accomplish more...let's take a look how.

Continuity and tradition, foundations for the future

Before time moves on too quickly, we would like to relive some of the highlights of our participation at EuroPCR 2009.
As we look back on this last of the great Barcelona meetings, we can see that it was truly excellent, with our two sessions well received and our Journal – the official journal of the meeting and the EAPCI – clearly defining its place, adding a new sense of maturity to our endeavours.

EuroIntervention@EuroPCR

In the upcoming printed issue, amongst others the following will be published:
If you didn't attend, here is what you missed...the second annual EuroIntervention awards were very well attended, Patrick W. Serruys and Andrew Ong, our Deputy Pacific Ring Associate Editor, introduced papers published in last May's issue selected by a special editorial panel (Figure 1). The quality of this session is testified by your response, not only in your attendance at the session itself, but in the submissions we are now receiving; articles responding or building upon what was discussed here. We look forward to next year's selection of these award winning papers, to be chosen and presented in Paris at EuroPCR 2010...and we hope that you are preparing your submissions today!
Our other session at EuroPCR 09, “Tips and Tricks for a successful publication” was particularly well received. Pieter Kappetein, of The Netherlands, Deputy Editor of EuroIntervention, as well as the European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery chaired the sessions along with Giuseppe Bondi-Zoccai of Italy, known for his expertise in meta-analysis. Speakers included Stefaan Janssen of Belgium, former Deputy Editor of the European Heart Journal, who provided the tips that editors look for when papers are submitted to a journal, Peter Juni from Zurich underlined the many pitfalls inherent in statistics and Amir Lerman of the USA gave us insight into how to critically review a paper using some very comical examples. Repeated a second time and transformed into an interactive, didactic session, “Tips and Tricks for a successful publication” inspired some very enlightened discussions from the attendees, including participants from throughout Europe as well as Egypt and India. We expect an even greater attendance in 2010, when we further evolve this concept, enhancing it through a larger exposure on our dedicated website – www.eurointervention.org – beginning in the next few month

The future today, EuroIntervention on the web

Beginning with the first issue of Volume 5 in May 2009, EuroIntervention has increased its publication schedule to every 6 weeks. Our regular supplements issues add to this output, dedicated to specific subjects under the expert guidance of invited Guest Editors from these topics.
The next months will also see the introduction of new special sections within the regular edition of EuroIntervention, backed up by hefty online additional material, one of the most impressive of these that has recently been developed and builds on the “takehome” educational goals of the Course, is EuroPCI-Techniques

What is EuroPCI-Techniques?

Growing out of our commitment to pass on and insure the clear transmission of what we know, and do so in a manner that will be useful for the community as whole, our editorial board and EuroPCR represented by Eric Eeckhout and Jean Fajadet, along with Bhavesh Sachdev and Christoph K. Naber, have developed this special section.
We all know that techniques are often passed on from an experienced expert to the new generation of specialists through a direct “face-to-face” encounter. However, this time-honoured approach can only touch a limited audience.
EuroPCI-Techniques wants to fill this gap by providing a forum within the journal (inprint as well as online) “to spread expert knowledge” in a more expansive fashion, focused on technical issues and the management of complications in percutaneous cardiovascular interventions using a simple step-by-step teaching method.
This exciting new educational series will be introduced in the coming issues of our Journal and will be comprised of a series of educational articles covering basic and advanced interventional and diagnostic techniques as well as an interactive, on-line learning and communication tool.

The second annual EuroIntervention award winners at EuroPCR 2009.
From left to right: Peter Barlis (Australia), Francesco Saia (Italy), Clemens von Birgelen (The Netherlands), Greg Kaluza (USA), Raoul Bonan (Canada), Professor Patrick W. Serruys, Editor-in-Chief, EuroIntervention.