Introduction

Abstract

Six years ago, the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (JVIR) published a supplement based on the many documents developed to that point by the Standards Division of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR). These documents were products of a laudable intent on the part of SIR leadership to improve the quality of clinical care and published research relevant to the practice of interventional radiology. As is clear from the supplement you are now reading, the Standards Division has resisted any tendency to stand still since publication of the initial collection, and has continued to develop new content as well as to revise older documents as appropriate. The output has been prodigious in terms of both volume and quality, and SIR should be justly proud of the Standards Division efforts. I wish to acknowledge and personally thank the many members of the Standards Division for the tremendous amount of thought and labor that has gone into these documents. In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to John F. Cardella, MD, FSIR, FACR, FAHA, the Standards Division Councilor, who has shepherded these documents through their development, and who serves as the guest editor for this supplement. By way of introduction, in the Table of Contents to this supplement, readers will notice three new icons used to designate specific types of articles. The CPG icon refers to Clinical Practice Guidelines under which fall Quality Improvement Guidelines, Safety Guidelines, Consensus Documents, Credentialing Statements, and Policy and Position Statements. The SIR develops Clinical Practice Guidelines in an attempt to define practice principles that generally should assist in producing high quality patient care. The RS icon refers to Reporting Standards, which are developed by the SIR Technology Assessment Committee. Reporting Standards serve as important guidelines for industry and the FDA in the evaluation of new devices during pre-market trials and development. Finally, the ET icon refers to Emerging Technologies, documents written about new and emerging technologies used in the practice of interventional radiology. These icons will appear in future regular issues of the journal to help readers readily identify articles. Sincerely,