The progress in the fight against heart disease has come in the form of novel drugs and procedures. There have been exciting developments in the field of interventional cardiology. Mechanical reperfusion by primary angioplasty has become the standard of care for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The profile of patients who undergo coronary intervention has dramatically increased in complexity to include patients with advanced age and those with left main stem lesion and chronic occlusions. Bioresorbable scaffold has the potential to overcome the limitations of permanent metallic stents because it provides temporary scaffolding and then disappears. Trans catheter aortic valve replacement offers a way to treat narrowed aortic valve without open heart surgery. This treatment is approved for people considered to be high risk for valve replacement surgery. The implantable cardioverter – defibrillator can be programmed to recognize and treat most prolonged arrhythmia’s: heart block, bradycardia and tachyarrhythmia. We are entering an era in which interventional cardiologists and heart failure specialitists will work hand in hand to offer patients with heart failure novel devices to improve their clinical status and outcomes.

The average life span of human beings has increased and the major contribution has come from advances in cardiovascular disease. It can be said that the future looks bright and there is much to look forward to. What are the lessons that we take from these advances? They were preceded by decades of research, collaboration and joint international research. The current generations of physicians, scientists and researchers have many new powerful tools continue the advances in cardiology begun so effectively by our predecessors in 20^th century. Though we face many challenges, I am hopeful that this can be accomplished.