Although the surgical mortality significantly increased with increased age, surgical management was still associated with significantly lower in-hospital mortality rates compared with medical management until the age of 80 years. Surgery may decrease the in-hospital mortality rate for octogenarians with type A aortic dissection and might be considered in all patients with type A aortic dissection regardless of age.

IAAAD is a condition that may present differently compared with classic type B aortic dissections. IAAAD patients treated with surgical or endovascular procedures had a lower unadjusted in-hospital and long-term mortality rate compared with medically managed patients. On the basis of the present natural history report, continued surveillance appears mandatory. To improve the life expectancy of patients with IAAAD, aggressive surgical or endovascular management seems justified.

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Concerning inter-visit repeatability, the data from 56 subjects with CF (adult and children) exhibited stability across the two measurements, with no significant difference between LCI measurements (paired t test, P ¼ .80). 1 The mean %CV for visit 1 (4.3%) and visit 2 (4.7%) were also not significantly different (paired t test, P ¼ .21). These results were comparable to the intra-visit %CV reported in the larger cohort of adults and children with CF. Figure 2 presents the limits of agreement between visits, which equates to a CoR of 1.4. These data underline our findings that LCI has good short-and long-term repeatability in CF but highlights that variability is greater in disease compared with health. These results emphasize that sample size estimates should be informed by CF data (and not by HC data) to avoid study underpowering. In our study, variability was comparable in children and adults with CF in contrast to some evidence that shows increased variation with disease severity and/or age. 3,4 Using %CV, CoR, and Bland-Altman statistics to assess inter-visit repeatbility, our combined child and adult CF data across 2 stable visits show levels of variation similar to those reported in the intra-visit data. We hope that this additional analysis can provide further insight into the natural variability of LCI across the age range in CF and help inform the question of what is a clinically meaningful change in LCI.

Membership on society committees and participation in society activities is the lifeblood of the Society for Vascular Medicine. We are fortunate to have an enthusiastic, active society membership, which has made an impact on the specialty of vascular medicine and the care of patients with vascular diseases. The theme of this edition of the Society for Vascular Medicine Communication Page is participation. A number of important committees of SVM are looking for members to participate in the activities of running the society and to contribute to the care of patients with vascular disease. If you have ever had any interest in improving the care of patients with vascular disease, or in participating in the growth of the specialty of vascular medicine, or in improving medical knowledge about clinical vascular disease, then participation in a society committee is right for you! There are many benefits of society committee work in addition to those listed above. Committees are a great opportunity to meet more like-minded colleagues, and to share ideas about the future of vascular medicine, as well as contribute to shaping it. At the heart of our mission, as a society and specialty, are the activities of the Education Committee. This committee is tasked with the all-important goal of developing and disseminating information about vascular disease for our members as well as interested colleagues in the vascular community. Please read about this and all of our committees below and consider volunteering to be a part of this important process as you participate in the Society for Vascular Medicine.

Welcome to a new feature of Vascular Medicine, and a new era for our journal! This issue marks the inauguration of the Society for Vascular Medicine (SVM) Communication Page in Vascular Medicine. While not all of our readers are members of the Society for Vascular Medicine, this journal serves as the official organ for the society, and this page will provide an excellent opportunity for members to keep up-to-date with society activities. This is a wonderful addition to the journal, and will no doubt contain things of interest to the entire vascular medicine community.Of even more importance to both the journal and our society, this volume of Vascular Medicine marks the beginning of new leadership. We are privileged and delighted that Heather Gornik, MD, FSVM, has accepted the call to lead our journal into the 21st-century. As most of you know, Heather is the medical director of the Noninvasive Vascular Laboratory at the Heart and Vascular Institute of the Cleveland Clinic and a staff member in the Section of Vascular Medicine. She brings an international reputation for scientific research and clinical excellence in vascular medicine to her new position. She is the ideal candidate to take the journal to even greater success. More details of her accomplishments and goals can be found on the SVM website (http:// www.vascularmed.org/about/svm-names-editor.cfm).

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