From Bygones to Perspectives

Do not worry about past things; turn towards the coming ones. (Tseng Kuang)

Just by opening this issue the discerning reader will immediately have realized a difference. Yes, you are right—the layout has changed. It is one of the New Year's resolutions here at the ThCVS to strive for persistent improvement. The design was developed to provide more lucidity, to make things easier on the eyes (one year older again, those two), and to prove that this is a contemporary scientific journal even though it is still available in print. The layout also represents the first major detectable innovation created by the new brains behind the scenes.

The uterus of The Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon has moved from Stuttgart to New York City, meaning that the international team of “Thieme Medical Publishers” will be responsible from now on. Daniel Schiff, M.D. is their Senior Vice-President and Journals Publisher and therefore in charge of it all. With his experience and visions he will ensure that the ThCVS continues to develop and grow. Other important changes are well under construction: Watch this space! David R. Stewart as the Manager of Journals Production has to make sure that the articles are electronically published, that the issues are physically created and finally delivered. He has had to bear the maximum workload of this complex transition so far. Some authors will have experienced a delay in our newly introduced eFirst publishing. The whole team wants to apologize for that and promises that we shall be back to our usual speed in 2012. Finally, Graham Brumfield, Senior Acquisitions Editor, is the Englishman in Stuttgart (not New York) and the primary contact person for your editor who will continue to be in Mainz.

This realignment also meant saying good-bye and a very heart-felt thank you to Dr. Regina Wenzel, Publishing Editor, and Lioba Elli-Meier, Journal Production, in Stuttgart for all their work over the years and for introducing the rookie editor to the real world of scientific journal publishing. Without the consistency of the former and the Swabian thoroughness of the latter he would have literally been lost between the lines.

As regards contents, let me now draw your attention to some articles in this issue that are closely related. Christian Schreiber, our editorial board member for congenital heart disease, reports the first German application of a special hybrid technique for perimembranous VSD closure.[1] This may not seem overly original, especially as the details have been extensively described before.[2] What is particular is the fact that this experience exemplifies a technology transfer in a rather unusual direction: East to West, China to Germany. The group from the Beijing Anzhen Hospital reports commendable results for the treatment of complicated type B aortic dissection.[3] Finally, authors from Qingdao University remind us that ingenious cardiac surgery was already performed in the People's Republic of China 17 years ago.[4]

The so-called West, where the creators and the majority of readers of this journal are living, has come to view the emerging superpower in the East with a suspicious eye. It used to be “us” who brought the light, collecting enormous economical profits in return. This traditional knowledge transfer finds a congenial onomastic representation in the creation of the “SGB” = “Sino German Bausparkasse.” But this is no longer the whole truth. According to Olaf Plötner, dean of Executive Education at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin and a former Siemens manager, the initial phase of cheap copying of simple European products is followed by one of intellectual development: “…the Asian companies invest in quality, focus on innovations and try to reach the upper customer segments of the world markets with their improved products… In 2011 China was able to register the most patents worldwide. With 1863 patents the Chinese telecommunication company ZTE had already outpaced the German market leaders Bosch and Siemens by 2010”[5].

The same is true for science and medicine. In 2011, China ranged second in the number of manuscripts submitted to the ThCVS, continuing an upwards trend that could be observed over several years. Although many studies do not meet the quality standards required for publication in a “Western” journal, the ones reporting experience and technology well worth universal distribution are also constantly increasing.

The debate if and how these two worlds can ever unify their various achievements for the benefit of all mankind has been ongoing and is highly controversial politically. There is no doubt that cultural differences will continue to be of major importance in international politics, which is the gist of the seminal work by Samuel Phillips Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations.[6] Important think tanks in the People's Republic of China propose a world order governed by an emancipated triangle consisting of the United States, China, and a united Europe. The latter should, in their opinion, perhaps be dominated by Germany, as the Chinese see the closest affiliations and similarities there, mainly for historical reasons.[7] At present it is felt that China has been granted the right to speak, but that nobody really listens. At a recent strategic conference organized by the party journal Global Times it was articulated that China still lacked a leading idea, a fundamental political theory for the future, which could be presented to (and accepted by) the “West”[8].

Maybe medicine, which by definition should be totally focused on the human being, will be able to continue building bridges between these two cultures. This requires an open mind and tolerance, qualities that have always been primarily associated with Western democratic thinking. But the Chinese too have always had their philosophers whose thoughts are remarkably similar to those of their colleagues in Europe: “Whoever criticizes the ideas of others must have something to replace them. Criticism without suggestion is like trying to stop flood with flood and put out fire with fire. It will surely be without worth... Universal love is really the way of the sage-kings. It is what gives peace to the rulers and sustenance to the people” (Mozi, ca. 470 BC – ca. 391 BC. Book 4; Universal Love III).

• References

• 1 Schreiber C, Vogt M, Kühn A , et al. Perventricular closure of a perimembranous VSD: treatment option in selected patients. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2012; 60 (1) 78-80
• 2 Xing Q, Pan S, An Q , et al. Minimally invasive perventricular device closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defect without cardiopulmonary bypass: multicenter experience and mid-term follow-up. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2010; 139 (6) 1409-1415
• 3 Zhu J, Cheng L, Liu Y , et al. One-stage repair for stanford type B aortic dissection concomitant with cardiac diseases: open stented elephant trunk technique combined with cardiac operation. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2012; 60 (1) 11-16
• 4 Ge N, Xu P, Gao H. Aortic leaflet replacement with fresh autologous pericardium: at 17-year follow-up. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2012; 60 (1) 81-83
• 5 Plötner O. Dienstleistungen als Antwort auf China. FAZ December 27, 2011, p 10
• 6 Huntington SP. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon & Schuster; 1998
• 7 Siemons M. Wir können nicht die ganze Welt retten. FAZ December 12, 2011, p 33
• 8 Siemons M. China muß der Welt Ideen liefern. FAZ December 29, 2011, p 29