The Society of Interventional Radiology featured minimally invasive scientific advances and new discoveries that may change the way diseases are treated at its 37th Annual Scientific Meeting, March 24 29 in San Francisco. With the theme IR Evidence chosen to reflect interventional radiology s gathering, presenting and discussing results of care-changing investigations, the meeting logged the highest SIR member attendance and broke previous attendance records set by residents, clinical associates

The objective of the Annual Scientific Meeting is to critically analyze the evidence that exists for the current therapies we routinely perform, said SIR s 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting Program Chair, Mahmood K. Razavi, MD , FSIR , an interventional radiologist at St. Joseph Vascular Institute in Orange, CA .

Gary P. Siskin, MD , FSIR , the meeting s scientific program chair, noted that abstract submissions reached an all-time high. I believe this record number is recognition that this meeting has become an important destination for those in our specialty to learn about and present important research, added the professor and chair of the department of radiology at Albany Medical Center in Albany, NY.

The programming for SIR 2013 will build on the 2012 meeting and include more evidence-driven, innovative sessions focusing on the diagnosis and management of superficial venous disease and venous thromboembolic disease, in addition to all other aspects of interventional radiology, said Siskin, who will chair SIR s 38th Annual Scientific Meeting April 13 18, 2013, in New Orleans. It is our hope that by reaching out to all members of the IR team, we will put together a comprehensive program with something for everyone, he noted.

Some of this year's many meeting highlights

There were 455 abstracts accepted for the meeting this year. Out of these, 160 were posters, 11 were distinguished abstracts presented in plenary sessions and categorical courses, and the remainders were oral presentations in the meeting s scientific sessions. During a keynote address, Carolyn M. Clancy, MD , director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, discussed the role of evidence- based medicine in patient care, national research priorities, and how interventional radiology can support the national research agenda.

John A. Kaufman, MD , FSIR , the Frederick S. Keller Chair of Interventional Radiology at the Dotter Interventional Institute in Portland, OR , delivered the 2012 Dr. Charles T. Dotter Lecture, named for one of the founding fathers of interventional radiology. Kaufman is professor of radiology, medicine and surgery at Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland and serves as the Dotter Interventional Institute s associate director and chief of vascular and interventional radiology.

This year s Gold Medals, SIR s highest honor, went to Kyung J. Cho, MD , FSIR , professor in the department of radiology, vascular/interventional radiology at University of Michigan Health Systems in Ann Arbor, Dimitris A. Kelekis, MD , PhD, FSIR , EBIR , professor and chair of the Research Center of Radiology and Imaging at Eugenidion University Hospital in Athens, Greece, and Louis G. Martin, MD , FSIR , FACR , professor, division of interventional radiology and image-guided medicine, Emory University Hospitals: Emory University Hospital, Crawford W. Long Hospital, Grady and the Atlanta Veterans Medical Center, Atlanta, GA.

SIR Foundation presented the following awards. Michael D. Dake, MD , professor of cardiothoracic surgery and medical director of the catheterization and angiography laboratories at Stanford Medical Center, Stanford, CA ., was honored for his pioneering work in the development and clinical integration of stent grafts and received the Leaders in Innovation Award. Edward W. Lee, MD , PhD, MSc, an assistant professor-in-residence of radiology at UCLA Medical Center and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles, received the Dr. Gary J. Becker Young Investigator Award, given to young practitioners of interventional medicine early in their careers to encourage a pursuit of academic careers. Eamonn P. Hobbs, FSIR , the president and CEO of Delcath Systems and cofounder of

AngioDynamics, was named the 2012 Frederick S. Keller, MD , Philanthropist of the Year for contributions to the field of interventional radiology that span more than three decades. Other SIR Foundation awards presented included Resident/Fellow Research Awards, which recognize highquality research by trainees, and the Dr. Constantin Cope Medical Student Research Award, in recognition of highquality research presented by medical students at the Annual Scientific Meeting.

Also in San Francisco, SIR s Executive Council announced that Marshall Hicks, MD , FSIR , an interventional radiologist and head of the division of diagnostic imaging at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, would assume office as SIR s 2012 13 president. Hicks, who is MD Anderson s Levit Family Distinguished Chair in Diagnostic Imaging and professor of vascular and interventional radiology, said, Interventional radiologists are responsible for much of the medical innovation and advancement of minimally invasive treatments that are commonplace today. This year, we will continue to measure, document and communicate the value this specialty brings to health care administrators, to insurers, to legislators and, most importantly, to patients.

Two scientific news conferences highlighted some of the meeting's newsworthy research

On March 25, Meridith Englander, MD , and Kenneth Mandato, MD , reported on short-term follow-up on use of angioplasty to widen internal jugular and azygos veins in patients with MS; Hector Ferral, MD , also reviewed the same use of angioplasty in a single-center experience; Jeremy Collins, MD , revealed results of applying a new lowdose, CT -guided lung biopsy protocol; Michael Hamblin, MD , illustrated how EVAR for ruptured aneurysms can be used in the emergency setting; and Francisco Carnevale, MD , talked about promising results using prostatic artery embolization to treat enlarged prostates.

March 26 presenters included Mark Garcia, MD, FSIR , who detailed how the aggressive treatment of chronic DVT can help prevent PTS; Peter Littrup, MD , who spoke about the use of cryoablation for breast cancer metastases; Govindarajan Narayanan, MD , who relayed information on a new technology called irreversible electroporation, or IRE , for down staging locally advanced pancreatic cancer; J. David Prologo, MD , who researched stem cell repair for degenerative disc disease; and Charles Kim, MD , and Clifford Weiss, MD , who explored targeting the hunger hormone and initiating weight loss using bariatric artery embolization.

Activities in San Francisco included other successes

Earlier in 2012, SIR launched an international travel scholarship grant program intended to enable physicians within 10 years of completion of training who are practicing outside North America an opportunity to attend the meeting. The grant s first recipients included 12 attendees from these nine locales: Argentina, Chile, China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Mongolia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

This year, SIR Foundation held its second annual fundraising Gala, which raised $440,000 for research and education, at San Francisco's iconic City Hall.