Dr. BC Kalmath	Dr. Ramesh Kawar	Dr. Anil Sharma

This special issue on interventional cardiology of the journal comes on the background of the previous articles dedicated to interventional cardiology. The pace of growth of interventional cardiology continues to baffle us incessantly. Every punter who would put his bet on the speed and development in this field would laugh all the way to the bank at the rate of returns of the same.

This issue has been dedicated to the one of the pioneers of interventional cardiology in India, Prof. BK Goyal. To praise him to the extent, which we appreciate him, would sound like outright sycophancy. But people who have been touched by this messiah in their capacity as a student, patient or a colleague can appreciate the gravity of his influence on the development of the speciality of cardiology in India. He always had unparalleled vision, heart of a Lion and a Midas touch to make this field an adorable one for all the large pupil following he has. He is considered the teacher of teachers, master of masters for the field of cardiology in India.

The birth of interventional cardiology can be attributed to the dramatic event of the first angioplasty performed by Andreas Gruntzig in 1977. The nature of Andreas Gruntzig's contribution to this field is best summarised by his own admission, "No matter what happens to the technique, I have made one contribution, and that is allowing physicians to work within the coronary arteries of the awake, alert patient". In other words, no one had ever conceived that you could do anything like that. Nobody had conceived of balloons, stents, or lasers being possible, lest to say about intravascular ultrasound or doppler wire.

We are reminded of a Chinese proverb which states that "The farther you look behind, the farther you can look ahead". In the ten years that we have been a part of this field of interventional cardiology has generated a level of optimism in us which goes along the Adidas adage "Impossible is Nothing".

Cardiologists who winced at being called plumbers have become electricians too. Electrical activation of the heart is considered to be brain behind the brawn. The brainy lot of cardiologists have ensured that the desire to silence any unwanted foci with pinpoint accuracy and the ability to suppress lethal rhythms with defibrillation has made arrhythmia cure a possibility. But the icing on the cake is the development of multisite pacing.

So every development from stents to drug eluting stents to cardiac resynchronisation therapy seems to be the ultimate panacea in their field only to be superseded by an innovative and promising new development. This issue concentrates on the recent developments in interventional cardiology which have shaped the way, we perceive and appreciate cardiology as a subject.

The leading luminaries in the field of interventional cardiology have graciously contributed to this issue. They have contributed the wealth of their knowledge and their real life experience in India.

To conclude without setting impossible goals would be sacrilege to the spirit of interventional cardiology, we hope this issue forms a gist of a true update of the state of developments in interventional cardiology in India. And wish you all a very happy reading.