New Horizons for Interventional Cardiology - A Plug for the Future

Excerpt

Congenital interventional cardiology has changed greatly over the past twenty years moving from a predominantly diagnostic tool to a therapeutic one. Interventions have become more complex and a myriad of imaging platforms has evolved to optimize comprehension of 3-D anatomy, facilitate precision and decrease radiation exposure. Smaller older and more complicated could be the tag line for our specialty's development. The scope of procedural collaboration with surgeons has led to an atmosphere of co-dependence, moving us away from the paternalistic and often dictatorial systems of decision making and management of the past. This newer way of thinking is evident inside and outside the operating and interventional rooms in our clinics and multidisciplinary meetings and might be best described as hybrid thinking. …