Dear Colleagues,

Coronary atherosclerosis will continue to be one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality. Plaque development is a critical feature in atherosclerosis and may play a key role in myocardial ischemia and infarction. Preventive strategies, such as life style adjustment and preventive interventions in the post-infarct patient have been shown to improve survival. Within these strategies, however, many issues have still to be resolved to attain further reduction of morbidity and mortality. With advancing knowledge about the complex cellular processes of the vascular wall and development of new therapeutic strategies, innovative noninvasive imaging techniques and strategies are needed to measure and visualize these processes.
In the past decade developments in noninvasive imaging have been impressive. Technical advances nowadays allow detailed imaging of the beating heart and its structures. Moreover, the development of molecular probes opens the way to molecular imaging of cardiovascular biology and pathology. Apart from imaging atherosclerosis by identifying plaque-specific molecules, ultra-high resolution imaging techniques can be used to characterize atherosclerotic plaques on the basis of biochemical and biophysical parameters. Recent studies have shown that cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is capable of discriminating between lipid core, fibrous cap, intraplaque haemorrhage, calcification, and acute intraluminal thrombosis. Multispiral computed tomography (MSCT) is expected to offer similar capabilities and has an increasingly important role in the detection of ischemic heart disease. In addition, improved insights in genetics in coronary artery disease are around the corner.

Furthermore, new treatment modalities in ischemic heart disease are paving their way in cardiovascular medicine such as regenerative approaches, stem cell therapy, percutaneous valve replacement; surgical techniques have been developed to improve left ventricular function by mitral valve repair and surgical remodeling.

To improve the outcome of patients with ischemic heart disease, it will be necessary to implement all different treatment options in a standardized screening and treatment program guided by the most advanced imaging techniques. As a consequence, it will be necessary to familiarize with these new techniques.

The program of the 2007 meeting will therefore not only include presentations by an international faculty about a number of interesting topics but also includes hands-on MSCT-training, life-sessions in the catheterization laboratory, and ‘Read with the Experts’ sessions on radiofrequency ablation, MSCT, and the value of good ‘old’ echocardiography as a prominent gatekeeper in ischemic heart disease. Case discussions will be used to illustrate the 2007 state of the art in image-guided management of ischemic heart disease The Third Leiden Cardiology Course will be held at the Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands. At the end of our course Prof. Dr. P.W.J.C. Serruys, Rotterdam, will give the prestigious 25th Einthoven Lecture entitled “Future of interventional cardiology’. We are very much looking forward to meeting you in Leiden, 11 and 12 January 2007.

We are looking forward to meeting you in Leiden, 11 and 12 January 2007.

Jeroen J. Bax
J. Wouter Jukema
Martin J. Schalij
Ernst E. van der Wall

Department of Cardiology
Leiden University Medical Center
The Netherlands

Department of Thoracic Surgery
Leiden University Medical Center
The Netherlands