The past, present and future of minimally invasive therapy in endovascular interventions: a review and speculative outlook.

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in all developed countries. In response to this need, endovascular management techniques have been developed across a large range of medical specialties. Minimally invasive percutaneous interventions were initially complex and challenging, but with the continued development of equipment and expertise their use has become routine in many fields. With routine use, it has become important to establish the safety and efficacy of endovascular treatments against the respective "gold standard" procedures, especially in light of their initial intended use for the management of patients at unacceptably high risk for standard therapy only. Such evaluation has to take into account the variety and diversity of devices and techniques, as well as the effects of operator dependability. Endovascular techniques are increasingly recognised as valid alternative management options for a variety of conditions, and it is anticipated that the current trend towards minimally invasive techniques will continue in the future, with moves towards increasingly complex endovascular techniques and hybrid interventions.