Welcome to the next issue of MEDITHESES. This issue represents a conclusion as well as a beginning. It offers the second half of our review of infections beginning with the conclusion of the review article we began in the last issue The article by Wickham offers a comprehensive overview of how to care for catheters and their complications. It highlights one of our goals of collecting articles from various specialties and is the first nursing article we have reproduced as a complete article.

The second article by Ascher, et. al. was selected because it highlights the relationship between thrombosis and infection and suggests that the management of infection is incomplete if the possibility of associated fibrin sheath and its possible action as a site of persistent infection is not addressed and managed by thrombolysis. The same issue was alluded to in our issue on throbosis where it was recommended that infection be considered when a catheter became occluded.

The abstracts included address the economic impact of infection as well as other pertinent issues.

If you are reading this then you are aware of our new beginning. We are now launched in an effort to create a 'virtual journal'. This offers many potential advantages and opportunities. The potential distribution is greatly expanded and the potential for hearing from our readers is increased. We are interested in how this format meets your needs as well as hearing from you about what we should be reviewing in the future. Our goal is to serve as a source for collection of information already in print from a variety of peer reviewed journals. Let us hear from you and thank you for your interest.

Paul M. Goldfarb, M.D.
Senior Editor