Introduction Quality of care has been a major focus of medical care since the Institute of Medicine focused attention on the unacceptable degree of variability in care and concern about…
The Innovator of Angioplasty There are few who are acknowledged as true pioneers in medicine, but Andreas Grüntzig was surely one ( Figure 1-1 ). He quite simply not only…
Philippe Généreux has received speaker fees from Abbott Vascular and is a consultant for Cardiovascular System, Inc. Introduction Left main (LM) coronary artery disease, defined by a visually estimated diameter…
Introduction Despite remarkable advances in the procedural and clinical outcomes of percutaneous revascularization, chronically occluded coronary arteries represent persistent technical challenges and unresolved clinical dilemmas in interventional cardiology. Although a…
Understanding cardiac anatomy is fundamental to success in cardiac surgery. The following drawings show the cardiac surgeon’s view of the heart from the right side of a supine patient through…
Summary of Key Points • Thymic tumors are rare malignancies and represent a wide array of tumors. • Histologic classification distinguishes three separate entities: thymomas, thymic carcinomas, and neuroendocrine thymic…
Summary of Key Points • Palliative radiotherapy is an effective and well tolerated treatment for palliation of thoracic and other symptoms in patients with lung cancer (both nonsmall cell lung…
Summary of Key Points • Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), BRAF, C-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1), ret proto-oncogene (RET) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), several antiangiogenesis agents, and…
Summary of Key Points • Maintenance therapy offers the possibility of continued active treatment to delay disease progression and symptom deterioration and, more importantly, improved overall survival of patients with…
Summary of Key Points • Discussed are tumor factors that affect treatment responses and outcome and host genetic elements that affect drug metabolism. Only pharmacogenomics elements that interact with chemotherapeutic…
