This time of year, media commentators in various fields tend to summarize the highlights of the past year into a neat, tidy package (perhaps one with lots of bullet points). As viewers, readers, or listeners, we then gain a sense of being able to move forward unencumbered, into next year’s blank slate. It’s a particularly American habit, I think. We like to have a sense of closure on the past and look ahead into the future with our famous American optimism.

However, our past never fully leaves us behind you might say we follow it into the future. A good illustration of this point is in December author Gerard Lagasse’s description of his TCT experience. He describes a session where a moderator presented a case and asked for a show of hands as to which physician would attempt left main stenting versus surgery. There was only a small show of hands. Gerard then thinks back to Andreas Gruentzig’s time and the hesitancy physicians showed in attempting angioplasty when it first came about. Now, of course, physicians perform angioplasty without a second thought and those who speak out against left main stenting today could, in the future, find themselves forced to change, similar to what happened to those who railed against angioplasty so long ago. This transformation of the field is a repeating pattern that is both essential and inevitable. It is especially dramatic and gripping in invasive cardiology, where so much is at stake.

But that’s not to say this is a field that doesn’t know how to have fun. There’s a great angiographic image from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation this month. We also share the results of the SICP’s 2005 trip to Thailand, which included partaking in a heart center blessing with Buddist monks. The SICP also shares their individual chapter news, which involves some good food and drink, and even bowling, along with education. Author Cheryl Morgan discusses her facility’s focus on reimbursement issues. It’s easy to read between the lines of her article and sense the joy she derives from her work.

Enjoy and see you in 2006!

Rebecca Kapur, Managing Editor
RKapur@hmpcommunications.com