[The evolving of cardiac interventions]

Treatment modalities for heart diseases have considerable evolved during the last 20 years. Coronary and valvular heart disease are treated increasingly by less invasive percutaneous catheter based procedures instead of open-heart surgery. In addition, new cutting-edge interventions allow to cure heart disease for which until recently only medical treatment options were available. Whilst many patients benefit from these innovative therapies, rapidly developing technologies potentially carry the risk of overtreatment. In order to select patients for the most appropriate treatment, an intensive interdisciplinary teamwork between cardiologists and cardiac surgeons is a mandatory requirement. Additionally, knowledge transfer between cardiologists, their growing subspecialties and practitioners should be encouraged. Finally, timely scientific evaluation of new therapies and subsequent incorporation in guidelines remains crucial.