Journal of Invasive Cardiology

In the end, I don’t want you to take home the impression that things are not going well and that progress will not continue. Most emphatically, that’s not the case! While conventional surgery as we know it is not likely to go away in the foreseeable future, the trend toward less invasion is relentless and unstoppable. “Irreversible” may be a better word. While some of my surgical colleagues continue to have difficulties grasping the concept, it is plain that patients prefer not to be cut open when given the choice! Impor-tantly, referring doctors feel the same way. This vision was, in fact, at the very center of my decision to reinvent myself as a catheter interventionist 15 years ago. It has not changed. But to be completely fair, I must say that I view my continued ability to operate and surgical background as tremendous assets that enable me to advise patients with authority on the best course of action in a given situation. They also give me the kind of confidence one can only attain with the knowledge that I can bail myself out if necessary, and that I need not worry about forcing the surgical or percutaneous indication one way or the other, for I can do both.