0000000000356939
AUTHOR
Jim A. Reekers
Radiologists' leading position in image-guided therapy
Image-guided diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are related to, or performed under, some kind of imaging. Such imaging may be direct inspection (as in open surgery) or indirect inspection as in endoscopy or laparoscopy. Common to all these techniques is the transformation of optical and visible information to a monitor or the eye of the operator. Image-guided therapy (IGT) differs by using processed imaging data acquired before, during and after a wide range of different imaging techniques. This means that the planning, performing and monitoring, as well as the control of the therapeutic procedure, are based and dependent on the "virtual reality" provided by imaging investigations. Since…
Executive summary of the joint position paper on renal denervation of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe and the European Society of Hypertension
Renal denervation (RDN) was reported as a novel exciting treatment for resistant hypertension in 2009. An initial randomized trial supported its efficacy and the technique gained rapid acceptance across the globe. However, a subsequent large blinded, sham arm randomized trial conducted in the USA (to gain Food and Drug Administration approval) failed to achieve its primary efficacy end point in reducing office blood pressure at 6 months. Published in 2014 this trial received both widespread praise and criticism. RDN has effectively stopped out with clinical trials pending further evidence. This joint consensus document representing the European Society of Hypertension and the Cardiovascular…