INTERVENTIONAL MEDICINE

Interventional radiology, which originated within diagnostic radiology, is a newly developed medical field of minimally invasive endovascular therapy. Dr. Charles T. Dotter, who is widely regarded as the father of interventional radiology (1), successfully treated an 82-year-old woman with lower extremity artery stenosis by dilatation using a guidewire and coaxial Teflon catheters, and published the case report in Circulation in 1964 (2). In 1967, Dr. Alexander R. Margulis named this type of therapy as “interventional diagnostic radiology” (3). In the same year, Dr. Sidney Wallace systematically presented the concept of “interventional radiology” in a paper published in Cancer. In 1979, the 1^st Interventional Radiology meeting of the European Society of Radiology, where Dr. Sidney Wallace delivered a lecture on interventional radiology, was held in Portugal. Since then, the term “interventional radiology” has been progressively accepted by academic societies across the world and the field has evolved rapidly as an emerging medical specialty.

Interventional radiology is defined as a diagnostic and therapeutic procedure that diagnoses and treats diseases under the guidance of medical imaging devices utilizing needles, guidewires, catheters, etc. (4). Therefore, it does not include diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy, with the exception of those endoscopic procedures performed under the guidance of medical imaging devices, such as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). The hallmarks of interventional radiology procedures include minimally invasive techniques, accuracy, safety, and effectiveness.

While percutaneous tumor ablation and iodine-125 implantation are normally regarded as “minimally invasive interventions”, high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is considered as “non-invasive intervention” (5). Nevertheless, regardless of whether they are minimally invasive or non-invasive interventions, all these procedures are categorized as non-vascular interventional radiology, which is an integral part of interventional radiology procedures.

Interventional radiology has been rapidly developing and has gained wide acceptance since 1980s. As a result, interventional radiology techniques have achieved widespread use. Presently, interventional radiology has now become not only the preferred treatment for various cerebrovascular diseases (both hemorrhagic diseases, i.e., aneurysm and arteriovenous malformation, and ischemic diseases, i.e., Cerebrovascular stenosis and Cerebral infarction) but also the main therapeutic approach for various heart diseases (i.e., congenital heart disease, arteriosclerotic heart disease, arrhythmia and so on). In addition, a wide range of vascular surgeries has been replaced by endovascular therapies. Furthermore, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), tumor ablation, and iodine-125 seed implantation have become integral parts of cancer treatment. Moreover, interventional radiology has been widely applied in nearly every organ system, i.e., respiratory system, digestive system, urinary system, obstetrics, gynecology and so on. Once opposed by some clinicians, interventional radiology has evolved over 30+ years to become one of the three “pillars” of clinical diagnosis and treatment along with internal medicine and surgery.

Due to its widespread use in clinical practice, interventional radiology is also called as “interventional medicine” or “interventionology”. Since interventional medicine is defined from a clinical practice perspective, it comprises all diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed under the guidance of medical imaging devices, irrespective of which clinical department performs the procedures. In contrast, interventional radiology is defined from the perspective of a diagnostic technique, which means it only refers to diagnostic and therapeutic techniques under imaging-guidance rather than all minimally invasive techniques, and it is different from diagnostic radiology and medical imaging. In fact, both interventional medicine and interventional radiology refer to the same thing but from different perspectives. In other words, interventional radiology is viewed as an emerging diagnostic and therapeutic technology while interventional medicine is regarded as a brand new medical specialty.

With the rapid development of interventional radiology in China, the Journal of Interventional Radiology (Chinese edition) was established in Shanghai in 1992, covering both clinical and basic research in various fields including interventional neurology, interventional cardiology, interventional oncology, vascular and non-vascular interventions, and so on. The journal has come a long way since its inception. It has now been recognized as one of the core journals of science and technology and become one of the most influential journals in the field of interventional medicine in China, with gradually increasing citation counts and impact factor. However, due to the language barrier, the contribution of the Chinese journal and its publications to the development of interventional medicine is limited. To reach out to a wider scientific community, with a lot of determination, the Journal of Interventional Medicine (English edition) has been established. The journal will publish premium articles on interventional medicine addressing the latest clinical advances, original research and innovative technological applications, aiming at encouraging research translation into clinical practice, facilitating scholarly communication between Chinese researchers and their foreign counterparts by providing a global platform for reporting and discussing scientific topics on interventional medicine, promoting practical applications of research results in the field of interventional medicine in China, and improving international reputation and influence of our interventional medicine research. The Journal of Interventional Medicine (English edition) is the sister publication of the Journal of Interventional Radiology (Chinese edition). As such, the two journals will complement each other. It is our hope that the Journal of Interventional Medicine (English edition) would become an excellent communication platform for academics in China and around the world.

To increase the global impact of this journal, we sincerely welcome authors around the world to submit their manuscripts for publication consideration. The Journal of Interventional Medicine will endeavor to contribute to the development of interventional medicine across the world.