Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the summer 2019 edition of Heart International.

I am delighted to inform you that Heart International has now recommenced regular publication after a hiatus. Heart International has recently been acquired by Touch Medical Media and hosted on their touchCARDIO platform, alongside their additional cardiology resources. Touch Medical Media is a dynamic and experienced publishing company based in the United Kingdom, who will undoubtedly take Heart International to the next level. I am also privileged to continue as Editor-in-Chief and will be joined in this role by my friend and colleague, Dr Rajesh Davé.

A word about the editors

I am a consultant cardiologist based at the Manchester Heart Centre, and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester, England. Like many busy clinicians, my time is largely consumed by day-to-day patient care, but the opportunity to keep my hands in research gives my clinical duties a sense of direction and purpose. Over the years, I have published widely in clinical as well as basic science research and have acted as local principal investigator for several landmark, international multi-centre clinical trials. I therefore have a good grasp of research methodologies and the critical role played by research in advancing patient care. My special research interests are in the fields of acute coronary syndromes, percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary physiology and vascular biology.

Dr Rajesh Davé is a recognised leader in cardiovascular intervention and currently serves as Chairman at the Department of Cardiology, and Chief Medical Executive of Holy Spirit Cardiovascular Institute at Holy Spirit Hospital in Pennsylvania, USA. He is Founder and Chairman of the global Complex Cardiovascular Catheter Therapeutics Congress, known as C3, which takes place annually in Orlando, Florida. He is a frequent speaker at cardiovascular conferences around the world and is a pioneer in endovascular intervention, especially critical limb ischaemia, limb salvage and carotid artery stenting. He has served as principal investigator for a variety of clinical trials. He has authored many manuscripts and book chapters and serves on the editorial boards of numerous medical journals.

Official partnership

On the first day of their 15th global summit in June this year, C3 and touchCARDIO announced a new exclusive partnership, with Heart International becoming the official journal of C3. C3 is a leading global annual cardiology conference that is rapidly growing. It has been designed for physicians who specialise in interventional cardiology, vascular surgery and interventional radiology, as well as fellows, residents and other healthcare professionals interested in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Our mission

Heart International has been in existence since 2006 and was initially published by Wichtig Publishing, a small Italian publishing company, before being acquired by Touch Medical Media on 1 April 2018. It is a free-to-access, peer-reviewed, general cardiology journal that is indexed in most of the key databases.

Acknowledging the need for Heart International to distinguish itself from competitors, Touch Medical Media has recently moved to a free-to-access publishing model, meaning that all the content remains completely free to view, with no open-access fees for authors. This important feature will set the Journal apart from other journals and will ensure that acceptance of articles is based purely on scientific merit. Equally importantly, the strategic partnership with the Interventional Academy – the parent organisation of the Complex Cardiovascular Catheter Therapeutics (C3) Conference, led by Dr Davé – is certain to rapidly catapult the Journal onto the international stage and help widen its readership and appeal to all corners of the globe. We are currently updating and expanding the Journal’s Editorial Board to reflect our international aspirations.

The mission of Heart International is to provide clinicians and non-clinicians involved in cardiovascular research with an active platform to share their research findings with the global cardiology community. It is through knowledge sharing that we promote education and ultimately improve patient care. The Journal will focus on original clinical research; however, reviews, case reports, images in cardiovascular medicine, letters to the Editors and basic science articles with a clear translational value also will be considered. Recognised experts will be invited to comment on selected articles that provide particularly novel or interesting findings. We will also commission regular reviews on topical cardiovascular issues by key opinion leaders. We pledge to provide rapid and efficient editorial handling of submitted manuscripts, followed by speedy online publication. Published articles will be promoted through a multitude of social media. Where a submitted manuscript is unsuitable for publication in Heart International, we will inform the author(s) of this promptly, without the need for a formal review process. Lead authors of topical papers may be invited to present their work at the next C3 meeting in the USA.

On behalf of myself, Dr Davé and the editorial team, I am excited to open a new chapter of Heart International and contribute to a renewed exchange of knowledge that will deepen our understanding of cardiovascular disease and improve outcomes for our patients. Heart International is committed to bringing you robust, relevant and engaging articles, but can only do so with your help and support.

Yours faithfully,

Dr Magdi El-Omar
Editor-in-Chief
Heart International