I would like to start this editorial by sharing an auspicious note with all our colleagues in the Brazilian Society of Cardiovascular Surgery (BSCVS). After several attempts, I have managed to make an appointment with Professor Dr. Sheldon Kotzin, executive editor of Medline. The meeting is set for May 4th in the United States, on which occasion I will represent the Brazilian Society of Cardiovascular Surgery and will stress the importance of our journal being indexed to the most important international database of health sciences.

As you know, the BSCVS has already attempted on two occasions to be accepted in Medline; the first was during the period when Prof. Dr. Fábio Jatene was the editor in the late l990s, and the second under my administration in 2005. We are never discouraged when our request is turned down; on the contrary, we insist more and with the collaboration of colleagues we try to make this dream of Brazilian cardiovascular surgeons come true.

I believe that this personal contact will provide Dr. Kotzin with a much better idea of the BJCVS and give us a friend on the committee of Medline which decides which publications should be indexed. Our journal is already linked to other important databases including Scielo, Latindex, Adsaúde, Scopus and Index Copernicus and I have requested inclusion in the DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) from whom I am awaiting a reply. Even so, it is evident that acceptance in Medline will upgrade our journal fantastically, with greater international repercussions and almost definitely an improvement in the number of citations and impact factor with a consequent increase in the number of articles.

In fact, the articles about heart surgery published by Brazilian surgeons, both here and abroad are among the ones with the highest impact according to a study by Professor Rogerio Meneghini, the general coordinator of Scielo, published in the journal "Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências" that identifies 25 points of excellence in the country.

We are publishing, in this volume, three extremely interesting editorials. Dr. Eduardo Saadi discusses education of endovascular surgeons. Prof. Dr. Milton Méier comments on a case of surgery for acute aortic dissection of Dr. Michael DeBakey who was then 97 years old, and the ethical implications of respecting the patient's wishes (Dr. DeBakey did not want to undergo surgery) and finally, an Argentinean colleague, Dr. Adolfo Saadia, writes luminous lines regarding medicine and humanism.

Maintaining the trend of the last editions, we have two articles from abroad. Koning et al., from Holland, discuss mortality related to endovascular treatment of aortic aneurysms and Torgovnick et al., from the United States report a case of hyperperfusion syndrome associated to carotid endarterectomy.

Another important theme is concerned with reviewers. In February, there was an intense exchange of e-mails among members of WAME (World Association of Medical Editors), about decisions taken to encourage peer-reviewing, essential for the credibility of scientific journals. Some editors defend the idea of remunerating peer reviewers and many publications already adopt this practice; other editors prefer using a points system according to the quality of each work. The BJCVS, in order to valorize the work of peer reviewers, will, from this volume on, award certificates to reviewers. After the articles of each edition are defined, the certificate will be available in the site and the reviewer can print it. The certificate will include the name of the reviewer and the number of articles reviewed by him in the current edition. Although far from ideal, it is a way of valorizing the hard work of our anonymous collaborators. The BJCVS is ready to publish articles and letters about this controversial subject.

Again I must insist that reviewers and authors respect deadlines when evaluating and correcting manuscripts. As we mentioned in the last edition, any works that have been reviewed and returned to authors will be automatically deleted if a corrected version is not received within 12 weeks. Once again, I am counting on the understanding and collaboration of all.

The BJCVS has and continues to send copies in PDF of the complete texts of articles published in the main international journals on cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. This service, established in August last year, is a success with more than 300 articles already having been sent! We are also sending to whom is interested, the complete articles indicated by the Scientific Bulletin which is distributed monthly by the BSCVS. Requests can be made by e-mail to brandau@braile.com.br .

From 12th to 14th of April, the BSCVS will hold its 34th Congress in Costão do Santinho, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. It will be another opportunity for the BSCVS to meet with their departments, professionals of similar areas, residents and students, as well as the traditional exchange of knowledge in conferences, courses and discussions. I would like to invite you all to participate in this congress. The team of the BJCVS will take part in the event to answer any queries in relation to the Journal, processing of works and to help in the registration of BJCVS members in our site: www.rbccv.org.br.

The site is a great success with more people accessing it every day. This is confirmed by the reports on the number of accesses to the site produced by Genesis Network, the company responsible for maintenance, with data collected from October, 2006. In that month, there were more than 1000 accesses, in November more than 1600 and in December, approximately 1100 accesses. In 2007, there were more than 1100 accesses in January and close to 1600 in February. These are impressive figures but we expect that the numbers will continue to grow this year.

Concluding, I am happy to inform you that the grant from the CNPq for editorial support requested in 2006 was deposited in the bank account at the end of February. In spite of the low value (R$9500.00), it is important to help offset the expenses related to the site and to the production of the printed version of the BJCVS. It represents the recognition of governmental institutions of the work in divulging scientific publications that we perform not only in Brazil but internationally.

We would like to welcome Edward back as an advertiser in our journal.

I hope to meet you all in Florianópolis!



All the best,



1 Editor

RBCCV/BJCVS