Topic: Interventional Cardiology: Recent Advances in Clinical and Translational Research

In recent years, interventional cardiology has advanced rapidly, undergoing a paradigm shift from “vascular recanalization” to “vascular repair” and, increasingly, toward “organ function therapy.” Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has become the mainstream treatment for symptomatic aortic stenosis across all surgical risk categories and has expanded into the mitral and tricuspid valve fields. Intravascular imaging modalities, such as intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), together with the “leave nothing behind” strategy using drug-coated balloons (DCBs), have significantly optimized coronary intervention strategies and improved long-term outcomes.

Nevertheless, major challenges remain. Complex calcified lesions continue to compromise stent efficacy, with current tools showing limitations. Tricuspid interventions are still in their infancy, hampered by anatomical complexity and insufficient clinical evidence. While interventional therapies address local lesions, atherosclerosis is a systemic disease, and issues such as long-term medication adherence and risk factor control remain unsolved. Translating clinical needs into reliable devices more efficiently, and harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) and novel biomarkers to guide precision therapy, represent key areas for future breakthroughs.

Against this backdrop, this Special Issue aims to present cutting-edge research in the field, with particular emphasis on innovative clinical studies, discovery and translational applications of biomarkers, and their integration into clinical practice. We welcome submissions of original research articles, reviews, systematic reviews, perspectives, and case reports, including but not limited to:

1. First-in-human (FIM) or early feasibility studies of new technologies/devices;

2. Subgroup analyses or long-term follow-up results from large randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of existing devices or strategies;

3. Registry studies based on real-world data validating the safety and efficacy of interventional technologies;

4. Research utilizing multi-omics, AI, and big data approaches to predict interventional outcomes;

5. Basic or clinical studies proposing innovative solutions to interventional complications (e.g., in-stent restenosis, paravalvular leak);

6. Exploration of novel serum biomarkers predictive of in-stent restenosis, post-valve thrombosis, or response to interventions in heart failure patients;

7. Advances and challenges in transcatheter valve therapies;

8. Precision medicine in coronary intervention, includingIVUS, OCT, and fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided strategies; applications of AI in imaging analysis;

9. Latest clinical trial evidence and positioning of interventional therapies for hypertension and pulmonary hypertension;

10. Cardiac rehabilitation after intervention: innovative models, mechanistic insights, and optimization of outcomes;

11. Rare cases and challenging complications: educational case reports and case series highlighting novel interventional solutions for highly complex scenarios.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), artificial intelligence, interventional treatment of valvular heart disease, coronary intravascular imaging, cardiac rehabilitation after intervention, serum biomarkers, clinical randomized controlled trial (RCT)