A Message From the SVS President

Enrico Ascher, M.D.

I hope you enjoyed the first issue of Vascular Specialist, which made its debut in September. Our goal in developing this new publication in cooperation with Elsevier Global Medical News (EGMN) is to provide you with reliable, current information on all aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of vascular disease.

The Society's mission includes educating vascular specialists in new science, surgical techniques, and practice. We accomplish that through our Annual Meeting and a full roster of endovascular training workshops as well as the Journal of Vascular Surgery and our Web site, VascularWeb.

This newspaper will help us leverage our knowledge base and extend it to the most relevant and salient developments that emerge from the 500-plus medical meetings covered by EGMN reporters every year.

K. Wayne Johnston, M.D., is the Medical Editor of Vascular Specialist. Dr. Johnston is an Editor Emeritus of the Journal of Vascular Surgery and is currently Editor of VascularWeb. He works with an outstanding editorial board of vascular surgeons to provide clinical, technical, and strategic oversight for this new publication.

Topics addressed in this issue of Vascular Specialist include summaries of recent results from the CaRESS and the PREVENT III trials, as well as coverage of vascular-related presentations given at scientific conferences held recently in Europe and the United States.

There is also a "pro and con" feature on the benefits of carotid interventions on asymptomatic patients and an exploration of the controversial issue of drug industry ad guidelines.

This is representative of the breadth and depth of coverage you can expect in every issue.

Sections of the paper are dedicated to various disease states so that readers can quickly identify articles of interest. The newspaper also features two full pages dedicated to Society news, programs, and initiatives.

We are pleased to report that the response to the premiere issue of Vascular Specialist has been enthusiastic.

We value your input on content and coverage for Vascular Specialist. Please contact Dr. Johnston, SVS Executive Director Becky Maron, or me at VascularSpecialist@vascularsociety.org with your suggestions. As always, your ideas are greatly appreciated.