Building on the shoulders of giants: the Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC) initiative towards a global framework to guide valvular heart disease trials

摘要

In April 2006 Eurolntervention published the very first of its special supplements based in part on the then ground-breaking Transcatheter Valve Symposium (TVS). This Supplement was guest edited by the two directors of the Symposium, and pioneers in valve treatment and education themselves, Philipp Bonhoeffer and Carlos Ruiz. The work of this first Supplement, as many of the following as well, was aided by the distinctive and important contributions made by the Supplements editors Alec Vahanian and Pieter Kappetein.