I wanted to formally welcome everyone back to Vein Magazine’s Spring/Summer 2022 issue! Our main goal is to be a bastion of “lean back learning” for venous and lymphatic enthusiasts. We hope to continue our tradition of delivering an interesting, colorful, and comfortable magazine with topics that our readers have let us know they want to review.
Just like the infamous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicted in early February, we extended the winter a bit this year. As folklore describes it if Phil sees his shadow and returns to his burrow, another six weeks of winter ensues. Similarly, many have seen tough weather, masks come, go and then come back again. At the time of writing this, surgical schedules, office schedules, and general staffing remain consistently inconsistent in many regions across our country.
Nevertheless, most of you have been telling me that you are feeling a real sense of normalcy this spring and so many have high aspirations for the summer.
That optimism is the beauty of humans in general, and healthcare professionals in particular often display more optimism than most. Many of us are driven by our innate sense of hope which the spring season often exemplifies. Whether it is a seedling growing out from the frigid soil, or the excitement we feel learning about new clinical advancements that might better treat our patients, hope, and spring simply go together.
This issue has lots of hopeful and interesting aspirational ideas and articles, a few of which I will highlight here. First, Dr. Pradeep Nair along with Dr. Craig Walker et al. describe a terrific true story about a patient of theirs and the triumphant results that can be attained even in the most difficult of clinical situations. The humanity of the story is as compelling as the scientific results. Many of us can relate to the feeling he conveys, not only of medical accomplishment, but the gratifying journey our patients often take us on as we work together to better their lives.
Dr. Seshadri Raju must have been full of hope when he enlisted the help of Drs. Jose Almeida, Ghassan Kassab, and Fedor Lurie to update the book Hemodynamics for Surgeons by Drs. Strandness and Sumner—a masterful text originally published in 1975. In this issue of Vein Magazine, the co-editors give us an inspiring look into the thinking that went into the long-awaited second edition called Sumner's Hemodynamic Guide to Venous Diagnosis and Intervention. Hemodynamics, as it relates to venous diagnosis and treatment, has long been an interest of many of us in the field, and this edition, like the last, is sure to be a classic.
The cover story about how we might be able to work closely together to solve the vexing issue of the Venous Leg Ulcer (VLU) is a testament to the hope all of us have in this field. When I asked a leading expert in each of the specialties that treat VLUs to participate in our roundtable, I was amazed at how enthusiastically they all responded. Each one of the highly respected and sought-after clinicians jumped at the opportunity to volunteer their time to the cause of an interdisciplinary effort to help “cure” the VLU.
I am confident that these types of discussions will raise awareness of the importance of an interdisciplinary, intersocietal, and ultimately intertwined healthcare delivery system necessary to optimally identify, diagnose and treat this entirely solvable problem.
I am personally so hopeful for all to have a great spring, terrific summer, and hopefully an enjoyable relaxed read of this edition. Please give us your feedback on what we can improve upon and send us your interesting articles and stories for our next edition of Vein Magazine. You can contact us any time at [email protected].
