Call for Papers Focused Issue: Advanced venous imaging and image-guided venous interventions

Venous disease, particularly venous thromboembolism, is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. If the disease remains undetected, long-term morbidity can be significant.  Up to 40% of patients with symptomatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT) develop post-thrombotic syndrome within 2 years. Furthermore, approximately 5% of patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) secondary to venous thrombotic disease develop chronic pulmonary hypertension with decreased cardiopulmonary capacity. Ultrasound is the first line modality for the detection of DVT.  CT and MR venography may play a complimentary role to ultrasound, especially for iliofemoral or subclavian DVT.

A variety of minimally invasive image-guided interventions can be performed for treatment of venous thromboembolism. Catheter-directed thrombolysis with or without mechanical thrombectomy in acute DVT can clear thrombus from the veins. Those patients who develop post thrombotic syndrome as a sequela of DVT with iliac vein occlusion may benefit from venous stenting. Superficial venous reflux in the setting of post thrombotic syndrome can also be treated with image guided radiofrequency or laser ablation techniques. Treatment options for chronic lower extremity venous insufficiency include endovascular radiofrequency or laser ablation techniques as well as sclerotherapy based approaches. In massive and submassive acute PE, mechanical clot maceration and ultrasound-assisted catheter directed thrombolysis may improve outcome and are associated with low rates of major bleeding events.

We encourage you to contribute original research manuscripts, meta-analysis and systematic analysis to the focused issue. The final submission deadline is July 1st 2016. To avoid overlap of topics, please first send the tentative title of your manuscript to the Guest Editors or Editor-in-Chief (editor@thecdt.org). Please note that 1) all submitted manuscripts will go through a thorough peer review process and acceptance to this Focused Issue is not guaranteed; 2) no publication fee is needed for these invited papers. 

We are a looking forward to the submissions for the Focused Issue of Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Therapy entitled “Advanced venous imaging and image-guided venous interventions”.