Catheter-based interventional cardiology procedures have recently progressed from coronary and noncoronary vascular interventions to interventions for structural heart disease. Although transcatheter aortic valve replacement has garnered most of the attention, a number of other procedures have been developed to treat conditions that have traditionally been managed, sometimes poorly, by surgery and medical therapy.
The dramatic increase in technology and translational research in this area represents another important collaboration between industry and clinical investigators. The obvious result has been new treatment options for patients with complicated clinical problems. A second result is the unprecedented collaboration between surgeons, radiologists, and cardiologists with clinical, interventional, and imaging skills to form the “heart team” approach to decision making and treatment. A third result is a new model, at least for transcatheter aortic valve replacement, for collaboration between professional societies, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in developing and monitoring new device therapy. A fourth result is a new training pathway for different specialists to develop the unique cognitive and technical skills needed to perform these challenging procedures, which for some specialties requires another year of fellowship training. Accordingly, Structural Heart Disease Interventions offers a comprehensive and timely review of this new field. The book has 27 chapters divided into 5 major sections. Full text and 3-dimensional heart models are available online via an access code.