... a new, thrice-yearly journal for medical imaging specialists and interventionalists: interventional cardiologists, interventional radiologists, CT radiologists, pharmacists, nurses and practice managers.

Medical imaging is a field in which, although there is plenty of interaction at the level of techniques and hardware, there is a need – and desire – for more discussion about optimisation of patient care. This desire to give the best service to our patients in terms of image quality and diagnostic or therapeutic effectiveness, for example, needs to be balanced by a full understanding of the risks and complications of our current practice.

Our aim in establishing this new journal is to inform readers about current issues in imaging, framing the important topics and highlighting key concerns. Our intention is that by reviewing areas where there are confounding results or controversy, C²I² will encourage high-level debate that will permit readers to make better-informed decisions in their clinical practice. Equally, we hope to provide evidence and clear guidelines in areas where there is consensus.

We hope that C²I² will offer an ongoing educational resource that will supply high-quality information and point the way to further information sources. It is also our wish that C²I² should provide a medium to promote crossover of knowledge between specialities. In addition, we would like to produce a journal that you will find enjoyable and useful, and to this end would welcome your feedback on content or any other aspect.

The kidney

In this our first issue we focus on the kidney. The widespread use of low-osmolar contrast media in preference to the more nephrotoxic high-osmolar contrast media has lessened the prevalence of nephropathy in patients undergoing imaging and interventional procedures. Increasing use of CT and interventional vascular techniques, however, and the administration of higher volumes and concentrations of contrast media to sicker patients means that contrast media-induced nephropathy remains one of the most clinically important problems associated with the use of contrast media. Two articles within on this topic, one written from a European perspective and the other from across the Atlantic, emphasise the need to increase awareness amongst practitioners of this significant complication, and stress in particular the importance of recognition of the groups of patients who are at increased risk. We also have an article on CO₂ angiography that endeavours to give a balanced overview of the extent to which this technique may protect patients against renal damage. The fourth article is a guide, drawing on the work of the European Working Group on Contrast Agents of the European Association of Radiology, to the management of reactions to contrast media. We hope that this will become a useful reference in many radiology departments.