Much has changed in Interventional Cardiology since I completed my fellowship in 2002. Back then most of us were primarily coronary interventionalists. Drug-eluting stents (DES) were newly approved, and the idea of 60- to 90-minute door-to-balloon times was still a distant goal. Peripheral interventions were only beginning to interest us, and only busy cath labs might have had a single person performing valvuloplasty and early ASD [atrial septal defect] closure.

PCI volume was increasing annually, as were advances in scientific discovery and drug/device development. We envisioned helping an increasing number of patients in ways our specialty’s founders could not have imagined.

To read more about Tu's recommendations to the managing the evolving field of interventional cardiology, click here.