Dear Reader,

As we reach the final issue of the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs for 2018, we wish to reflect on another successful year’s achievements, and to thank all those who have contributed their time and effort to guarantee the high quality of our content.


2018 was a successful year for the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs. Over 45 articles have been published; the most popular of these, in terms of downloads from SpringerLink, have been:

  • Toth PP, Patti AM, Giglio RV, Nikolic D, Castellino G, Rizzo M, Banach M. Management of Statin Intolerance in 2018: Still More Questions Than Answers. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2018 Jun;18(3):157-173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40256-017-0259-7.

  • Burks M, Stickel S, Galiè N. Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Combination Therapy in Practice. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2018 Aug;18(4):249-257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40256-018-0272-5.

  • Coghlan JG, Channick R, Chin K, Di Scala L, Galiè N, Ghofrani HA, Hoeper MM, Lang IM, McLaughlin V, Preiss R, Rubin LJ, Simonneau G, Sitbon O, Tapson V, Gaine S. Targeting the Prostacyclin Pathway with Selexipag in Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Receiving Double Combination Therapy: Insights from the Randomized Controlled GRIPHON Study. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2018 Feb;18(1):37-47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40256-017-0262-z.

  • Holubarsch CJF, Colucci WS, Eha J. Benefit-Risk Assessment of Crataegus Extract WS 1442: An Evidence-Based Review. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2018 Feb;18(1):25-36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40256-017-0249-9.

  • Jansa P, Pulido T. Macitentan in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: A Focus on Combination Therapy in the SERAPHIN Trial. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2018 Feb;18(1):1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40256-017-0260-1.

  • Anand I. Stable but Progressive Nature of Heart Failure: Considerations for Primary Care Physicians. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2018 May 14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40256-018-0277-0. [Epub ahead of print]

  • Uchino Y, Watanabe M, Takata M, Amiya E, Tsushima K, Adachi T, Hiroi Y, Funazaki T, Komuro I. Effect of Oral Branched-Chain Amino Acids on Serum Albumin Concentration in Heart Failure Patients with Hypoalbuminemia: Results of a Preliminary Study. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2018 Aug;18(4):327-332. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40256-018-0269-0.

  • Pogge EK, Davis LE. Evaluating the Safety and Tolerability of Sacubitril/Valsartan for HFrEF Managed Within a Pharmacist Clinic. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2018 Apr;18(2):143-151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40256-018-0264-5.

  • Varjabedian L, Bourji M, Pourafkari L, Nader ND. Cardioprotection by Metformin: Beneficial Effects Beyond Glucose Reduction. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2018 Jun;18(3):181-193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40256-018-0266-3.

  • Chen X, Huang T, Cao X, Xu G. Comparative Efficacy of Drugs for Preventing Acute Kidney Injury after Cardiac Surgery: A Network Meta-Analysis. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2018 Feb;18(1):49-58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40256-017-0245-0.


Social media sharing of information is becoming more important and is another metric with which to measure the reach of articles. This year the following articles published in the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs scored highly on the Altmetric system:

The quality of articles published in the journal is also reflected in its most recent impact factor (2.741). Based on this Impact Factor, the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs is ranked 57th in the ‘Cardiac & Cardiovascular System’ category (of 128 journals) and 115th in the ‘Pharmacology & Pharmacy’ category (of 261 journals).


Other journals in the Adis Premier Journals Portfolio (http://www.springer.com/gp/adis) continue to prosper with substantial increases in usage year on year. In addition, this year has seen Applied Health Economics and Health Policy receive its first impact factor.


We thank the authors who have contributed articles to the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs over the course of 2018. The skill and dedication of all authors are critical to the continued publication of the journal. The quality of published articles is also testament to the significant efforts of the peer reviewers, whose commitment ensures that the journal’s content is held to the highest possible standard. We would like to thank the following individuals who acted as reviewers for the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs in the last 12 months:


Zanfina Ademi Delaney, Australia

Anis Ahmed, UK

Satoshi Akagi, Japan

Endalkahcew Admassie Alamneh, Australia

Joachim Alexandre, France

Marco Alings, The Netherlands

Ute Amann, Germany

Eisuke Amiya, Japan

Craig S. Anderson, Australia

Fabio Angeli, Italy

Dominick J. Angiolillo, USA

Anastasia L. Armbruster, USA

Kengo Ayabe, Japan

Maciej Banach, Poland

Dhrubajyoti Bandopadhyay, USA

Shweta Bansal, USA

Doris Barcellona, Italy

Nijole Bernaitis, Australia

Vicente Bertomeu-Gonzalez, Spain

Sonu Bhaskar, Australia

Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai, Italy

Patrick Blin, France

Juan L. Bonilla-Palomas, Spain

Giuseppe Boriani, Italy

Pravesh K. Bundhun, China

Laurence W. Busse, USA

Kristen B. Campbell, USA

Arvind Chaturvedi, India

Xi Chen, China

Arrigo F.G. Cicero, Italy

Andreia Coelho, Portugal

Nicholas L. Cruden, UK

Csaba A. Dézsi, Hungary

Jamshed Dalal, India

Lindsay E. Davis, USA

Kyle A. Davis, USA

Peter W. de Leeuw, The Netherlands

Renato De Vecchis, Italy

Konstantinos Dimopoulos, UK

Michael P. Dorsch, USA

Lisa Duffett, Canada

Isabelle Durand-Zaleski, France

Mark B. Effron, USA

Mikael Ekholm, Sweden

Alexander C. Fanaroff, USA

Harrison W. Farber, USA

Gisele Farias, Brazil

Gerrit Frommeyer, Germany

Hidekatsu Fukuta, Japan

Luis Furuya-Kanamori, Australia

Freja S. Gaborit, Denmark

Michel Galinier, France

Alexander S. Gallus, Australia

Justin Gatwood, USA

David Giannandrea, Italy

Sebastiano Gili, Italy

Tyler Gluckman, USA

Carolina Gomes Freitas, Brazil

Diana A. Gorog, UK

Kenichi Goto, Japan

Israel Gotsman, Israel

Kendra J. Grubb, USA

Joo-Yong Hahn, Republic of Korea

Job Harenberg, Germany

William S. Harris, USA

Ramón C. Hermida, Spain

Inmaculada Hernandez, USA

Takeshi Horio, Japan

J. Wouter Jukema, The Netherlands

Jayant K. Kairi, India

Marta Kaluzna-Oleksy, Poland

Narongrit Kasemsap, Thailand

Mohammed Hasan Khan, USA

Safi U. Khan, USA

Sahil Khera, USA

Srividya Kidambi, USA

Masatake Kobayashi, France

Sung Woo Kwon, Republic of Korea

Tracey-Lea Laba, Australia

Irene M. Lang, Austria

Sukhyang Lee, Republic of Korea

Yau-Jiunn Lee, Taiwan, Republic of China

Xiaojuan Li, USA

Kueiyu J. Lin, USA

Wei-Hsuan Lo-Ciganic, USA

Yash Lokhandwala, India

Gerald J. Maarman, South Africa

Athanasios J. Manolis, Greece

Antonis S. Manolis, Greece

Ishak A. Mansi, USA

Nicola Maurea, Italy

Cian McCarthy, USA

Li-yan Miao, China

John S. Millar, USA

Sundeep Mishra, India

Tiny Nair, India

Stefan M. Nidorf, Australia

George Ntaios, Greece

Ryuichi Ogawa, Japan

Mitsutoshi Oguri, Japan

Toshitaka Okabe, Japan

Yoichiro Otaki, Japan

Xinshou Ouyang, USA

Mehmet Ozaydin, Turkey

Akhil Parashar, USA

Manan Pareek, USA

Elizabeth K. Pogge, USA

Harsh A. Rawal, USA

Kausik K. Ray, UK

Yogita Rochlani, USA

Francois Roubille, France

Antonia Sambola, Spain

Carlos G. Santos-Gallego, USA

Naoki Sato, Japan

Yanagisawa Satoshi, Japan

Adam J. Sawyer, USA

Begum Y. Sayın, Turkey

Stephan H. Schirmer, Germany

Ulf Schoenermarck, Germany

C. Mary Schooling, USA

Martin Schulz, Germany

Maurizio Sessa, Italy

Rika Shimada, Japan

Tetsuo Shioi, Japan

Nika Skoro-Sajer, Austria

Anastasia Slobodnick, USA

Francesco Summaria, Italy

Edward Sze, USA

Abir Tadmouri, France

Yi-Da Tang, China

Shigemasa Tani, Japan

Thenappan Thenappan, USA

Gaetano Thiene, Italy

Howard Thom, UK

Dietmar Trenk, Germany

Javier Trujillo-Santos, Spain

Yune-Fang Ueng, Taiwan, Republic of China

Leon van den Toorn, The Netherlands

Guijing Wang, USA

Jason H. Wasfy, USA

Kristin Watson, USA

Gerald F. Watts, Australia

Xuerong Wen, USA

Brian White-Guay, Canada

Cheuk-Kit Wong, China

Zheng-yuan Xia, China

Syed W. Yusuf, USA

Kan Zen, Japan

Henry Zhao, Australia


In addition, we would like to thank the members of the journal’s Honorary Editorial Board, who have acted as peer reviewers and authors, and have provided guidance on journal content, policy and processes:


A. Michael Lincoff, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, USA [Consulting Editor]

Balram Bhargava, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

Deepak L. Bhatt, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart & Vascular Center, Boston, MA, USA

Prakash C. Deedwania, University of California at San Francisco, Fresno, CA, USA

Naranjan S. Dhalla, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Phillip A. Erwin, South Miami Heart Specialists, South Miami, FL, USA

Arthur M. Feldman, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Valentin Fuster, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

Xavier Girerd, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France

Sidney Goldstein, Henry Ford Heart and Vascular Institute, Detroit, MI, USA

Joseph A. Hill, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

Gowraganahalli Jagadeesh, Silver Spring, MD, USA

Neal S. Kleiman, The Methodist DeBakey Heart Center, Houston, TX, USA

Antoine Lafont, Université Paris-Descartes, Paris, France

Thierry H. Le Jemtel, Tulane University Medical School, New Orleans, LA, USA

Frans H.H. Leenen, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Mario Marzilli, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Venu Menon, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

Gilles Montalescot, Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, Paris, France

Doralisa Morrone, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Stephen G. Nicholls, South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Adelaide, SA, Australia

Ali Oto, Hacettepe University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

Bertram Pitt, University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Silvia G. Priori, Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri, Pavia, Italy

C. Venkata S. Ram, Texas Blood Pressure Institute, Dallas, TX, USA

Gianpaolo Reboldi, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

Gaetano Santulli, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

Johanne Silvain, Institut de Cardiologie, Paris, France

Kewal K. Talwar, Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi, India

Michal Tendera, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

Udho Thadani, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

Alec Vahanian, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France

George W. Vetrovec, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

Michael A. Weber, State University of New York, New York, NY, USA

William S. Weintraub, Christiana Care Health Services, Newark, DE, USA

Harvey D. White, Green Lane Cardiovascular Service, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand

Nathen D. Wong, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA


We do hope that you have found the articles published throughout the year in the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs to be interesting and informative. The editorial schedule for 2019 is well under way, and we are looking forward to bringing you many high-quality and authoritative articles over the coming year.


With best wishes,

Amitabh Prakash