Focus on : Contemporary Methods in Biostatistics New Statistical Methods in Cardiovascular Research Nuevos métodos estadı́sticos en la investigación cardiovascular

As part of its on-going training and updating efforts, Revista Española de Cardiologı́a is beginning a new miniseries on advances in statistical methods. Statistics is an increasingly important part of our activity, both in research and clinical practice. Being able to interpret the findings presented in articles or at scientific conferences, and being able to appreciate their relevance, often depends on having an adequate understanding of statistics. Clinicians, when presented with a series of patientrelated data, need to know how those data relate to the patient’s current situation (diagnosis) or future (prognosis). For a new diagnostic examination or treatment to be recommended, it must have shown its statistically significant superiority to existing alternatives. Statistical techniques are continuously evolving, with new methods being increasingly adopted in clinical research. The objective of this miniseries is to familiarize cardiologists with new statistical methods that are replacing or complementing traditional methodology. The topics addressed in the miniseries are summarized below.