The landscape of coronary and pulmonary vascular medicine is undergoing a paradigm shift, fueled by breakthroughs in molecular biology, imaging, and interventional technology. Translating discoveries from bench to bedside requires not only technical innovation but also mechanistic understanding, diagnostic precision, and clinical validation. This Special Issue, “Translational Advances in Coronary and Pulmonary Vascular Medicine: From Mechanistic Insights to Clinical Implementation,” aims to showcase the most recent progress that bridges fundamental science and clinical practice in both coronary and pulmonary vascular disease.
Over the past decades, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has transformed the treatment of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), yet challenges persist in addressing complex lesions, stent-related complications, and microvascular dysfunction. In parallel, pulmonary vascular medicine has evolved from an underexplored niche into a dynamic multidisciplinary field, encompassing pulmonary hypertension (PH), pulmonary embolism, and chronic thromboembolic disease. Recent innovations - including non-invasive imaging, molecular diagnostics, computational modelling, and mechanistic studies on vascular remodeling, endothelial dysfunction, and inflammation - are reshaping our understanding of pulmonary vascular pathobiology. Together, these advances highlight an urgent need for integrative translational research linking biology, imaging, and intervention.
This Special Issue provides a comprehensive platform for translational research in coronary and pulmonary vascular medicine. We particularly seek contributions that extend beyond procedural innovation to include mechanistic discoveries, novel diagnostic technologies, and implementation strategies that improve patient outcomes. By integrating insights from basic science, bioengineering, and clinical research, this issue aims to highlight translational pathways that accelerate discovery into practice. We invite original research, reviews, and perspectives that will inform clinical guidelines, inspire cross-disciplinary collaboration, and drive the next generation of innovation in cardiovascular and pulmonary vascular health.
We welcome research and review articles that tackle the subjects listed below:
• Revolutionizing Coronary Revascularization: Drug-coated balloons, bioresorbable scaffolds, polymer-free stents, and novel strategies for complex PCI (Chronic total occlusion, left main lesion, bifurcation, and calcified lesions).
• Intravascular Imaging and Physiology-Guided PCI: Advances in IVUS, OCT, and computational coronary physiology technologies (FFR, QFR, iFR), demonstrating their impact on clinical endpoints, cost-effectiveness, and procedure optimization.
• Pulmonary Embolism and Pulmonary Hypertension Interventions: Outcomes and refinements in catheter-directed therapies, balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA), pulmonary artery denervation (PADN) and other new device-based strategies for PH.
• Innovations in Translational Research: Development of molecular and functional imaging, AI-based hemodynamic assessment, liquid biopsy biomarkers, and imaging-genomic approaches for early disease detection and risk stratification; Cellular and molecular mechanisms of vascular remodeling, inflammation, endothelial-mesenchymal transition, and right ventricular adaptation, with emphasis on therapeutic targets.
Keywords: Coronary Revascularization; Intravascular Imaging and Physiology; Drug-Coated Balloon; Pulmonary Hypertension; Artificial Intelligence and Computational Modelling
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
