Abstract
The SVM 27th Scientific Sessions were held in Long Beach, California, June 15–18, and once again were a great success.
We had nearly 300 attendees, 12 academic sessions on Thursday and Friday, a full day of vascular lab programming on Saturday, and 3 concurrent workshops. New this year were rapid fire sessions featuring 5-minute talks on anticoagulation and critical limb ischemia and the first early career mini-symposium. Of course, we had our perennial SVM favorites including Vascular Jeopardy, Cases Over Cocktails, and our annual SVM business meeting breakfast.
The meeting started on Wednesday afternoon with the ABCs of Vascular Medicine. Topics covered a wide range of vascular disease, as well as an excellent talk on pre-operative assessment for patients undergoing vascular surgery by Dr. Josh Beckman. The always entertaining Dr. Thom Rooke presented a 2 × 2 table approach to limb swelling that was a crowd favorite. The ABCs sessions ended with a series of rare and not-so-rare cutaneous manifestations of vascular disease presented by Dr. Steve Dean. I learned a lot in this talk!
Thursday morning started with the Year in Review in Vascular Medicine, including updates on basic and translational science, venous thromboembolism, arterial disease, and uncommon vascular disorders (such as Marfan syndrome and fibromuscular dysplasia), followed by my Editor’s Choice – Best of Vascular Medicine. A comprehensive review of the history of the direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) was given by keynote speaker, Dr. Alexander (Graham) Turpie, followed by sessions on risk factor management, changes in healthcare in light of the Affordable Care Act, vasculitis, and the Jay D. Coffman Young Investigator presentations. The poster hall featured over 40 posters, and there was a lively moderated poster session which gave investigators an opportunity to discuss their science and clinical case studies with attendees and poster professors. Thursday evening ended with the popular Cases over Cocktails, followed by the Women in Vascular Medicine Reception.
Friday included a focused session on chronic venous disease – co-sponsored by the American College of Phlebology. I want to personally thank Dr. Willy Chi for his efforts in planning this terrific session; I particularly enjoyed the eye-opening talks on the science of compression therapy.
Our SVM President, John R. (Jerry) Bartholomew, then led the annual SVM awards ceremony (awardees fellow) and gave his presidential address. In his address, Dr. Bartholomew called for more training programs in vascular medicine, saying that ‘fellows are our future,’ and patients with vascular disease remain woefully underserved. He commented upon the tremendous fellowship of likeminded individuals that make up our Society, reminded us of how the original SVM mission remains relevant today, and called upon each of us to contribute our talents to grow and further the mission of SVM. It was truly inspirational. The full text of the address is published in this issue of Vascular Medicine.
Vascular Jeopardy with the esteemed (and hilarious) Drs. Dean and Jaff brought down the house. Following lunch, the educational entertainment continued with three spirited Great Debates: 1) Do PERT teams optimize or complicate PE care; 2) Should an uncomplicated type B aortic dissection be managed with TEVAR or medical therapy and surveillance; and 3) Should we should do surveillance for asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis or ‘skip the scans’ and just maximize medical therapy? Stay tuned for recaps of these Great Debates in the pages of Vascular Medicine in the issues to come.
On Friday afternoon, we had 4 concurrent workshops/symposia. Many pearls of wisdom on how to start a vascular medicine practice were shared during the early career mini-symposium, while others attended how-to workshops on duplex ultrasound mapping for venous reflux, compression therapy (stockings, pumps), and wound care, and challenging interventional cases. The day ended with the annual Celebrating Vascular Medicine Reception.
Saturday morning started early with the SVM annual business meeting. During the meeting, SVM President Jerry Bartholomew thanked outgoing members of the SVM Board of Trustees who had completed their terms of service. Elections were held for 3 trustees (details below).
The always popular SVM in the Vascular Laboratory program also took place on Saturday. Talks centered on specific testing areas (cerebrovascular, arterial, visceral, and venous) and also included a session on quality, accreditation, Appropriate Use Criteria, and practicalities such as how to start a vascular lab and tips for more accurate billing and coding. A working lunch featured a mock RPVI examination. Special thank you to Drs. Esther Kim and Marie Gerhard-Herman and Ms. Rita Shugart for organizing and moderating these sessions.
I thank the entire Scientific Sessions Program Committee for its hard work this year in planning an outstanding meeting. Please let us know if you have any suggestions for topics for next year. Finally, please save the date for next year’s 28th Annual SVM Scientific Sessions, June 15–18, 2017, and Board Review Course, June 17–18, 2017, to be held at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Fellows Course
The Society for Vascular Medicine was proud to present its second annual Fellows Course in Long Beach, California, on June 16 and 17. The two-day intensive course was designed to highlight vascular medicine for interventionalists, surgeons and vascular medicine specialists in training. It was developed for fellows from general cardiology, interventional cardiology, vascular medicine, interventional vascular medicine, interventional radiology and vascular surgery disciplines. Forty-six fellows attended this offering.
With SVM master-educators at the podium, the course provided a foundation in non-invasive vascular medicine to help vascular specialists in training identify, diagnose and treat patients with vascular disease, before, during and after vascular intervention or surgery. Selected sessions were integrated with the SVM Scientific Sessions to allow for maximal exposure of participants to the Society and for networking opportunities. The Society thanks the organizing committee and speakers for this successful course, particularly the course directors Drs. Raghu Kolluri and Ido Weinberg. Stay tuned for future details on the 2017 Fellows Course.
Travel Awards
This year the Society awarded 5 young scholars with a travel grant to attend the meeting. We asked travel award recipients to share their experience at the meeting with us. Dr. Aaron Aday, a Fellow at Brigham & Woman’s Hospital, provides his reflection below. The other award recipients are listed below.
Attending my first SVM Annual Meeting was an incredible experience. Since the meeting occurred just as I was finishing my vascular medicine fellowship, it served to consolidate my fellowship training. I spent most of the meeting participating in the Fellows’ Course, which I found particularly useful. In every lecture, no matter how comfortable I was with the topic, I always learned several clinical pearls. I particularly enjoyed the sessions on wound evaluation and management, since this has not been a major focus of my clinical training. I have already had the opportunity to use some of this newly acquired knowledge in caring for my own patients. Vascular Jeopardy served as a reminder of how much I still have to learn within the field, and I was truly impressed by the audience’s breadth of knowledge. Finally, the meeting was a great opportunity to meet many of the leaders in the field whom I know primarily through their publications and leadership activities. These individuals are clearly interested in the education and professional development of fellows in training, and they are truly invested in the future of the field as a whole. Overall, it is abundantly clear to me that the SVM Annual Meeting is a high yield meeting that truly should not be missed by anyone practicing vascular medicine.
Travel Award Recipients
Aaron Aday, MD
Brigham & Woman’s Hospital, USA
Ellen K. Brinza
Cleveland Clinic, USA
Theresa DeVeaux, RN, MS, ACNP
Baltimore Washington Medical Center, USA
Andrew Galmer, MD
Hofstra University, USA
Lee Joseph, MBBS
University of Iowa, USA
SVM Award Winners
Jess R. Young Outstanding Educator Award
Michael R. Jaff, DO, MSVM
Massachusetts General Hospital, USA
Master of the Society for Vascular Medicine (MSVM) Award
Judith G. Regensteiner, PhD, MSVM
University of Colorado, USA
Jay D. Coffman Young Investigator Awards
First place
Devraj Sukul, MD
University of Michigan Health System, USA
The Remarkable Heterogeneity of Ankle-Brachial Indices in Patients Undergoing Revascularization for Critical Limb Ischemia
Second place
Scott J. Cameron, MD, PhD
University of Rochester, USA
Hypoxia and Ischemia-Induced Platelet Dysregulation
SVM Elections
Elections for the SVM Board of Trustees were held at the annual business meeting on Saturday, June 18. The following individuals will serve the Society for 2016–2017:
John R. (Jerry) Bartholomew, MD, MSVM Cleveland Clinic, USA
Heather L. Gornik, MD, FSVM Cleveland Clinic, USA
Herbert D. Aronow, MD, MPH, FSVM Lifespan Cardiovascular Institute, USA
Raghu Kolluri, MD, RVT, FSVM OhioHealth and Riverside Methodist Hospital, USA
James B. Froehlich, MD, MPH, FSVM University of Michigan Medical School, USA
Maria Teresa B. Abola, MD, FSVMPhilippine Heart Center, The Philippines*
G. Jay Bishop, MD, FSVM, UPMC Hamot Heart and Vascular Institute, USA*
Naomi M. Hamburg, MD, FSVM Boston University Medical Center, USA*
Scott Kinlay, MBBS, PhD, FSVM,VA Boston Healthcare System & Brigham & Women’s Hospital, USA
Elizabeth Ratchford, MD, FSVM Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA
Ido Weinberg, MD MSc MHA, FSVMMassachusetts General Hospital, USA
*Elected at 2016 SVM business meeting to a 2-year term.
The Society expresses its gratitude to the following outgoing members of the Board of Trustees for their service during the past 4 years:
Teresa L. Carman, MD, FSVM University Hospitals, Case Medical Center, USA
Yung-wei (Willy) Chi, DO, FSVM UC Davis Vascular Center, USA
Jerry Bartholomew, MD, MSVM giving the presidential address.
President Jerry Bartholomew and SVM Executive Director Lee Ann Clark in a strategy session.
Speakers and moderators of the early career program, Starting or Expanding Your Vascular Medicine Program.
Vascular Jeopardy winners: Dr. Alejandro Perez, second place (left) and Dr. Teresa Carman, first place (right).
Exhibit Hall Passport drawing winner Dr. Reza Amini with a future SVM member.
Fellows Course included didactic and hands-on sessions.
Table-top learning with the Fellows Course industry supporters.
Presenting at the moderated poster session.
Presenters interacting with attendees at the moderated poster session.
Dr. Bartholomew thanking keynote speaker, Dr. Alexander (Graham) Turpie.
Dr. William Hiatt congratulates Dr. Judith Regensteiner on receiving the MSVM award.
