Cardio-thoracic surgery is a steadily-evolving field with many faces to help shape it along the way. We are pleased to welcome Matthias Siepe as the new Editor-in-Chief of Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery (ICVTS). We got to know Matthias during an interview and discovered how he came to specialise in cardiovascular surgery, how he sees this field in the future, and what he has in store for ICVTS.
What encouraged you to pursue a career in the field of cardio-thoracic surgery?
As a third year medical student, I attended a research project of one of my fellow students. Hearts from non-heart-beating donor pigs were transplanted in a recipient pig. I was astonished by this work and thrilled to watch the heart start beating after the arrest period.
With this eye-opening experience, I joined this research group for the following four years and performed several experiments while on this team – including the first surgical procedures I did myself. After finishing university, it felt natural to simply continue with my experimental work, and develop my education at the Cardiovascular Clinic – this felt like the logical career path.
What do you think are the challenges being faced in this field today?
The high degree of professionalism in many procedures and the new technology available for various indications has led to clear specialisation within our field. We have TAVI specialists, VATS specialists, aortic specialists, congenital surgeons, minimal-invasive mitral specialists, off-pump CABG specialists, et cetera. On top of that, in many subspecialties there is significant overlap with other colleagues: the interventional cardiologists, radiologists, pulmonologists, or angiologists. Ideally, these “neighbouring” specialists form a multidisciplinary team. Such multidisciplinary activities may have a great impact on treatment quality. The writing of common guidelines escorts this development.
However, the challenges occur in less advantageous circumstances, where specialist groups in centres might counteract each other. Whenever that happens, there is a risk that the quality of patient care is compromised, adequate training is impossible, and the professional atmosphere is destroyed.
How do you see cardio-thoracic surgery developing in the future?
The sub-specialisation in our surgical field together with the neighbouring disciplines requires a matrix-like structure of modern clinics. Some may fear that by working together with the neighbouring partners, the surgeon’s role is lost. However, I do not share this fear. In hospital structures, this readjustment will certainly utilize a lot of time and energy. We must ensure that surgical training and scientific work are further ensured in this undoubtedly changing environment.
What are you most looking forward to about being the Editor-in-Chief of ICVTS?
Coming into contact with and getting to know a lot of interesting people is such a major privilege in this position. Continuously being informed about leading-edge science in all fields is another privilege. I am deeply honoured to have been chosen for this position, and I will fill it with energy and respect.
How do you see the ICVTS developing in the future?
The ICVTS started as an exciting and innovative journal, whereby different publication types and interactive formats were tested. Most of the regular articles it published in the past few years were transferred from EJCTS. We are in the process of changing this, with an increasing rate of de novo submissions to ICVTS. With its Impact Factor allocation, the interactive Journal is in a strong position among other cardiothoracic surgical journals. I will work on sharpening the Journal’s innovative and interactive profile while enhancing its professionalism.
What do you think readers will take away from the ICVTS?
First and foremost, the ICVTS is a scientific journal, and we function from this professional perspective. We provide ICVTS readers with condensed and important practical information suitable for their daily routine (e.g. in the best evidence topic articles). I think that digesting this content should be enjoyable. In order to make reading the ICVTS pleasant, the aim is to make the content more appealing by including innovations, technical highlights and opinions from leaders in the field. The Journal’s appearance will not change much immediately, but it will change over time. We will continue to track the number of downloads, citations, and clicks of our content in order to adapt the Journal to its readers’ demands.
Featured image credit: Image provided by CC0 Public Domain via PixaBay.
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