Memos
Editor's Memo
Welcome to a very special issue of Advances in Pulmonary Hypertension (PH). Drs Jeffrey D. Edelman and Harrison W. Farber have guest edited this unique issue of the journal which encompasses “all things imaging in PH.” It is the only full journal devoted to this topic and will be used as a reference in the PH world for years to come. One significant distinction between this issue and others is the inclusion of a multitude of leaders and experts from many fields: pulmonologists, cardiologists, radiologists, researchers, and echocardiographers. Drs Edelman and Farber have brought this multidisciplinary team together to bring us an exquisite all-encompassing knowledge base on this topic.
To begin the issue, Drs Natasha A. Vedage and Anjali Vaidya explore the role of echocardiography as a tool which will help not only to detect PH, but also to discriminate among the subgroups of PH when a patient is being evaluated. They discuss novel approaches using echocardiography that will help clinicians predict the hemodynamic profile of a patient as well as help define etiology and severity of PH.
Radiologists from the University of California at San Diego—Drs Seth Kligerman, Michael Horowitz, Lewis Hahn, Albert Hsiao, and Elizabeth Weihe—elucidate how imaging techniques play such an integral role in the workup of a patient with PH. The collaboration between radiologists and clinicians is imperative when assessing the pulmonary and systemic vasculature, heart, lungs, and mediastinum in order to make the correct diagnosis and manage the patient with PH.
Drs Akhil Narang and Benjamin H. Freed then discuss how novel techniques and advancements in current imaging techniques have provided the opportunity to extend imaging's role from diagnostics to enhancing risk stratification and providing additional phenotypic data that may alter therapeutic management.
In a special feature for our “Ask the Expert” section, Drs Hugo Carmona, Wei Wu, and Sudhakar N.J. Pipavath take us through a pictorial tour of imaging in PH. They consider radiographic signs in all types of imaging that can be used in identifying the etiology and severity of PH, presenting multiple examples of a variety of imaging features that can assist clinicians in distinguishing some of the clinical manifestations of PH.
In our PH Professional Network corner this month, Ms Jacqueline M. Brewer and Dr Samuel A. Allen discuss the importance of team-based care that includes the patients themselves and their family as well as their health-care team. This section discusses how vital communication with all parts of the team is for the patients in terms of medication adherence, quality of life, and overall morbidity and mortality.
And of course, to round out this issue, Drs Edelman and Farber led an exceptional group of experts in the world of imaging for PH. Drs Benjamin H. Freed, Paul Hassoun, Peter Leary, Sudhakar N.J. Pipavath, and Anjali Vaidya convened to update us on the variable uses, benefits, and advances in radiographical techniques and echocardiography to diagnose and manage patients with PH.
This outstanding issue of Advances is an invaluable resource for all of us in the field of pulmonary vascular disease. Congratulations to Drs Edelman and Farber, as well as all of the contributors, on an excellent issue.
Guest Editors' Memo
Every day, pulmonary hypertension (PH) is becoming a more multidisciplinary field. The area of imaging reflects this diversity and richness of expertise. From the simple chest x-ray to the latest magnetic resonance imaging, the data available from the images themselves combined with interpretation and evaluation in association with the computational and neural processing capabilities of machines and their masters are truly astounding.
Routine imaging with or without clinical suspicion may reveal the presence of PH and provide insight into its underlying causes and associated conditions. Ongoing refinements and innovations may further define progression, response to therapy, and provide insight into disease prognosis and pathogenesis.
As the technology of medicine continues to explode, it is becoming even more tempting and convenient to read reports instead of viewing the actual studies. The experience is unfulfilling and uninformative—like looking at the notes of a song without hearing the music or reading a recipe without tasting the food. In this issue of Advances in Pulmonary Hypertension, we take advantage of the new digital format to provide a plethora of representative images selected, described, and interpreted by our esteemed authors. We explore the basic findings and nuances of PH imaging as interpreted through the eyes and minds of radiologists, cardiologists, and pulmonologists. We hope you take advantage of this technology and spend time viewing the images in order to enhance your understanding of this disease entity.