This article is one of four stories that highlights the venous components covered at the November 2014 VEITHsymposium. Here are the remaining three articles that highlight what was covered at the symposium:
Pulmonary Embolism: From VEITHsymposium
by Michael R. Jaff, DO
In November 2014, the VEITHsymposium meeting sponsored what many would argue was the finest symposium on pulmonary thromboembolism (PE) ever presented at a predominantly vascular surgeon-attended continuing medical education event. Recognized leaders in the field came together to discuss emerging concepts in the diagnosis and management of PE—believed to be the most common killer of hospitalized patients.
David Dudzinski, MD, and Ido Weinberg, MD, reviewed the diagnostic strategies for PE, followed by a comprehensive discussion from Geno Merli, MD, on the new medical therapy for venous thromboemboli. This presentation raised the opportunities and challenges for the target specific oral anticoagulant agents. Drs. Christopher Kabhrel, Jason Salsamendi, Iris Baumgartner, Raghu Kolluri and Jeffrey Wang all discussed the novel approaches to advanced management of PE, including systemic and catheter-directed thrombolytic therapy and pharmacomechanical intervention.
A fantastic discussion of the results of the SEATTLE 2 Trial was presented by Gregory Piazza, MD, and Clifford Sales, MD. A series of presentations surrounding more heroic maneuvers for massive PE then took place, led by a discussion on the Vortex thrombectomy system (Christopher Kwolek, MD); ECMO and surgical thromboembolectomy (Thoralf Sundt, MD); and iliac vein stenosis (John Kaufman, MD).
The session was wrapped up with a provocative discussion about organization of PE teams (PERT, pulmonary embolism response team) by Kenneth Rosenfield, MD, and a series of challenging cases presented by the faculty. The audience was truly standing-room only, demonstrating the renewed level of interest among vascular surgeons to bring cutting edge therapies to their patients who suffer this devastating illness.
Due to the success of this symposium, VEITHsymposium 2015 will again highlight the advances in PE diagnosis and treatment with a world-class faculty.
