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CX 2026 Preview Continued from page 19
CX 2026 will take place 21–23 April at ExCeL in London
“The vascular field remains fragmented, and care delivery, collaboration and optimising treatment pathways is the only way to achieve a true difference”
the session will be a debate on whether early rib resection should be routine after thrombus removal for upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The vascular trauma programme, scheduled for 23 April, will focus on evolving clinical practice using experience from vascular injuries in recent conflicts and feature a debate on the motion ‘Limb salvage for blunt knee dislocation popliteal injury at 2am: Vein first’. “Vascular injuries are not something that we see every day, but they can be very complex and very challenging to manage,” says Ross Davenport (Barts Health NHS Trust and Queen Mary University of London, London, UK), a CX 2026 Executive Board member. “Coming and joining us, getting involved in the discussions, and listening and learning from others, is a sure way that we can improve the care for these injured patients worldwide.” This year’s vascular access and renal interventions programme on 21 April will feature approaches to arteriovenous fistula (AVF) stenosis, endoAVF and cephalic arch case discussion, and a debate on whether innovation is dead in vascular access. Treating and preventing stenosis in vascular access “is always a controversial topic,” CX 2026 Executive Board member Nicholas Inston (Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Birmingham, UK) tells Vascular News, explaining the focus of the first session, which centres on approaches to AVF stenosis. “This year we’ll be aiming to bring current evidence together, including some podium-first presentations to try and at least come to some consensus on, perhaps, an algorithmic approach to stenosis, and defining whether or not certain stenoses should be treated differently than others,” he comments. Roger Greenhalgh lecture addresses 21st-century PAD challenges Another programme highlight will be this year’s Roger Greenhalgh memorial lecture. Following in the footsteps of CX 2026 Executive Board member Gustavo Oderich (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA), who delivered last year’s inaugural address, Eric Secemsky (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA) will speak on 21st-century challenges in peripheral arterial disease (PAD) education, innovation and evidence during Thursday’s peripheral arterial and CLTI session. “Education must move to the layperson and non-vascular provider, as the earlier we can get at-risk patients into optimised care, the greater the impact we can make as vascular specialists,” comments Secemsky ahead of CX 2026. Secemsky’s lecture seeks to show that, despite the evolution of PAD care, many challenges remain “front of mind”, Secemsky tells Vascular News. “The first and most critical initiative
April 2026 | Issue 110
to improve limb salvage is optimising multidisciplinary care and early targeted screening for at-risk patients. The vascular field remains fragmented, and care delivery, collaboration and optimising treatment pathways is the only way to achieve a true difference,” he noted. Concerning education, Secemsky shares a “remarkable” gap in patients’ awareness of PAD, despite cognisance of heart attack and heart failure. “We need to continue PAD education to patients directly,” he shared. “We need non-vascular providers to be thinking about PAD when relevant risk factors are present (like uncontrolled diabetes and tobacco use) and to be using PAD and PAD-related amputations as encouragement to get these risk factors under control.” In terms of innovation, Secemsky believes that accomplishments in PAD care have come about due to high-quality evidence from trials such as BASIL-2/3, BEST-CLI, SWEDEPAD, and LIFE-BTK. “No matter the opinion on specific results, these trials are critical to our field,” said Secemsky. “Look at how many papers have come from BEST-CLI that have educated us on CLTI epidemiology.” “As we move forward, innovations specific to PAD revascularisation will focus on optimising antiproliferative drug delivery, as this has made the largest impact on coronary intervention and has similar potential for CLTI care. Coupled with greater use of intravascular imaging strategies and optimised medical therapies, we have a recipe for how to prolong our interventions and, more importantly, prolong a functional limb for our patients,” Secemsky shared. By way of his lecture, Secemsky hopes to “send everyone away with encouragement to work across the aisle with fellow vascular clinicians, prioritise the patient, and dedicate the future to collaborative care to advance limb salvage”. “I hope the excitement of upcoming future technology coupled with a willingness to be all-inclusive with the vascular team both memorialises the teachings of the late, great Roger Greenhalgh and inspires everyone to think outside the box and look at the future with optimism.” Dedicated innovation session showcases key technological advances Elsewhere on the programme, this year’s CX Innovation Showcase will features a series of presentations on some of the latest technological developments in the vascular and endovascular world. The session, taking place on 23 April, will highlight innovations in the realms of peripheral arterial, aortic and venous disease, as well as provide updates regarding imaging and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The session will close with the annual Dragons’ Den-style competition and announcement of the winner of the CX Innovation prize.