J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2001;121:840
© 2001 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery
Editorial note
Andrew S. Wechsler, MD, Editor
The Journal has the responsibility to morph with changes in our specialty. One example of this growth has been the addition to the Journal of a section entitled ÒEvolving Technology.Ó This section provides a forum for brief communications and original manuscripts that focus on emerging technologies that influence our practice. The same rigorous standards of peer review are applied to these articles as to any other article accepted for publication in the Journal. It does, however, sequester this information into an easily identifiable section of the Journal.
Enabling technology alters the way we do things: sometimes for the better (enduring technology) and sometimes not for the better (evanescent technology). Occasionally, new technologies that do not endure are steps in the direction of advances that will ultimately become part of our therapeutic options. Whereas new pharmacologic agents can usually be rapidly dispersed and their use can be well described in text, advances in technology are more complex to disseminate. Ideally, one would like to minimize the Òlearning curveÓ that accompanies technologic advances. The impact of this learning curve may be found in articles that have assessed the efficacy of new surgical techniques as a function of time. These articles frequently focus on the experience within a single or a limited number of institutions. When consideration is given to the rate at which expertise is acquired among multiple institutions, the scatter becomes greater, progress slower, and the attendant morbidity higher.
The accompanying comments from Dr Bruce Lytle describe one approach to the more rapid and controlled dissemination of technologic information and a method for the acquisition of expertise. This approach is laudatory and should pave the way for similar demonstration projects.
