Newsletter_2008-7 by SCAI Publications

www.scai.org www.seconds-count.org

July/August 2008

The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions

Mark Your Calendar

SCAI Announces 2009 Annual Scientific Sessions: May 6–9 in Las Vegas

or many, SCAI’s 2009 Annual Scientific Sessions represents a homecoming, a return to the Society’s tradition of highly focused, concise, and user-friendly education delivered in its uniquely collegial atmosphere. These are the hallmarks of SCAI, missed by many members this past year, when the Society experimented with a new setting, new timing, and new programming formats. SCAI’s 2009 Annual Scientific Sessions will convene May 6–9 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV. Ted Feldman, M.D., FSCAI, James Hermiller, M.D., FSCAI, and Robert N. Vincent, M.D., FSCAI, are developing an educational program specifically for adult and pediatric/ congenital interventional cardiologists and their colleagues – including nurses, technicians, and technologists, who are integral to the care of interventional pa-

tients. In the world of interventional cardiology, SCAI’s annual meeting is unbeatable for education directly relevant to patient care and an easily navigated program. “We’re maintaining and improving the programming style our attendees tell us they treasure. By this,

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SCAI Launches IFI and ICI: Programs for Fellows-in-Training and Practicing Interventionalists

CAI now offers the Interventional Fellows Institute (IFI) and the Interventional Cardiology Institute (ICI), two interactive, online curricula and assessment programs, together serving both intraining and practicing interventionalists. “As the leading professional association for interventional cardiology,” says SCAI President Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., MPH, FSCAI, “SCAI aims to offer programs that provide the interventional cardiology community with the most current tools and information available to aid in their ongoing learning process.” IFI and ICI are free and available 24 hours a day to anyone with high-speed Internet access.

What Is IFI? “IFI is pure didactic curriculum, designed for interventionalists-in-training,” says Manish Parikh, M.D., FSCAI, program director of IFI. “The beauty of the site

is that each of the lectures is given by one of the world’s authorities, so you’re listening to a renowned person in that field.” In addition to lectures, the site also features interactive activities, narrated case studies, practice questions, and instant feedback on password-protected Manish Parikh, M.D., assessment results—an indispensFSCAI able tool for Board preparation and high-quality patient care. All the materials are current, offering the newest techniques and advancements in the field. “The field moves so rapidly, that information is coming out at each of the new national meetings,” says Dr. Parikh. You can’t rewrite textbooks, but you can certainly take out three or four slides and insert three or four new ones and record. So, the IFI site has the option of being fresh at all times.”

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(continued from page 1) I mean highly objective, unbiased, quality interventional cardiology sessions designed to focus with clarity on the information most relevant to practice,” says Dr. Feldman. “You come to SCAI’s annual meeting because you’re seeking to be clearly, completely, and comprehensively updated in Interventional Cardiology.” This message came through loud and clear when SCAI surveyed attendees of the 2008 program, which SCAI offered in partnership with ACC at Chicago’s McCormick Place. Held under the umbrella of ACC’s 30,000+ annual meeting, which serves cardiology in all its diversity, “the joint meeting was scientifically robust,” says Bonnie Weiner, M.D., MSEC, MBA, FSCAI, “but it didn’t look or feel like SCAI. That was a disappointment for our members and long-time attendees, who look to SCAI for CME with great focus, credibility, and relevance to practice in a navigable format that is easy to digest.” It doesn’t get any more relevant than the topics the SCAI Program Committee is zeroing in on for 2009, including, for example: • successful handling of complicated bifurcations and total occlusions; • medicine vs. PCI vs. CABG for subsets of patients; • clinical implications of new stents, new medications, and other new products; • hybrid techniques and procedures; • patient and lesion selection for drug-eluting vs. bare metal stents; • identification and treatment of vulnerable plaque; • advances in percutaneous mitral and aortic valve therapies; • new pharmacologic strategies for myocardial infarction; • acute stroke intervention; • guidance on new antiplatelet medications; • evaluation of peripheral arterial disease • limb salvage in patients with peripheral arterial disease; • working in the left atrium; • PFO and shunt closure; and • optimizing outcomes for diabetic patients.

“SCAI has 2 1 ⁄2 days of sessions on pediatric and structural heart disease. They are a critically important segment of the meeting. Just like the adult concurrent sessions, they’re front-and-center and easy to find.” Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., MPH, FSCAI

“ Come to SCAI’s annual meeting because you’re seeking to be clearly, completely, and comprehensively updated in Interventional Cardiology.” - Ted Feldman, M.D., FSCAI The Program Committee is also developing sessions focused on clinical trials and abstracts. “I go to a lot of so-called late-breaking clinical trial sessions all over the world. They’re packed with information that’s ‘latebreaking’ but often they don’t answer an important clinical question or have an impact on practice,” says Dr. Feldman. In contrast, SCAI’s new “Trials and Abstracts” sessions will look at the “newest of what’s new” and then analyze how that new information should change the practice of interventional cardiology. Interventionalists specializing in congenital heart disease will find 2 1⁄2 days of programming focused on current topics in pediatric/congenital and structural heart disease. “The program will have a bit more emphasis on outcomes — what we’re capable of doing and what we should be doing in both the short- and long-term analysis to give our patients the best care,” says Dr. Vincent. The congenital program will also feature sessions dedicated to research abstracts, debate sessions, and the SCAI’s signature adult-pediatric session designed for those treating adults and children with structural heart disease. At press time, the Program Committee was assembling a faculty of the world’s most highly renowned interventional cardiology practitioners. “These are the individuals most qualified to tackle specific issues related to interventional techniques that lead to successful patient outcomes,” explains SCAI President Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., MPH, FSCAI, “and attendees will find them to be very accessible.” That, too, is a tradition at SCAI’s meetings. Attendees and faculty mingle during breaks and after sessions, discussing opportunities for collaboration and the nuances of specific case demonstrations. As in past years, case review will be a fixture of the program. “In interventional cardiology, there is no substitute for case-based learning, so attendees will find case presentations offered throughout each day,” adds Dr. Hijazi. “This is especially important in emerging areas, such as treatment of structural heart disease.” In addition to the animated and interactive cases of years past, in 2009 the Society will also offer live and taped cases in a format specially designed to change how attendees practice their craft. “Our goal is neither entertainment nor theater,” explains Dr. Feldman.

“The SCAI meeting is the pediatric interventional forum. The focus is on the latest research and cases physicians encounter in real practice. Along with the PICS meeting, where the focus in on how to do procedures, there is no better educational program in North America for pediatric interventionalists.” – Robert N. Vincent, M.D., FSCAI “We intend for those viewing live cases to learn to do something new or learn to do something better.” The pediatric/congenital program will feature cases as well. Indeed, SCAI’s congenital program will of course feature the very popular “I Blew It” session, during which physicians examine some of the most challenging cases they have confronted in the recent past. The C3 Summit, too, is returning to its traditional home with SCAI, again directed by Jeffrey J. Popma, M.D., FSCAI. One of the most exciting regular features of the SCAI annual meeting, this “gem of a program brings together the very best, most interesting, and most provocative cases from every training program in the United States,” says Dr. Feldman. “It is the best case review program on earth.”

“Navigating the meeting hall is not part of the SCAI meeting experience. You focus on learning, both in the sessions and when you meet up with the rest of the Interventional Community in the gathering places.” - Ted Feldman, M.D., FSCAI Year after year, attendees praise SCAI’s case-based sessions and ask for more of the same. “I’m never surprised by attendees’ passion for cases,” says Dr. Feldman, “but what I find gratifying is that our attendees appreciate that SCAI pays attention to the fundamentals.” Sessions dedicated to advances in imaging and to hemodynamics – “the building blocks of interventional cardiology” – have a time-honored place in the SCAI program. “Attendees appreciate that we don’t forget these things. Really big meetings can be a lot of fun, but it’s very difficult to find time in your schedule for the fundamentals. And if you do make time, you may not be able to locate the sessions themselves,” added Dr. Feldman with a smile.

SCAI views its annual meeting’s smaller size as a real strength. “Bigger is not always better,” says Dr. Feldman. “The SCAI meeting has grown steadily over the last decade, and we’re proud of that, but we also truly value that everyone who comes to the meeting has meaningful interaction with friends and faculty. That is a big part of our purpose.” Indeed, uniting the Interventional Community is central to SCAI’s purpose, and the annual meeting always includes the decision-makers and thought-leaders of the profession. Those who shape the field attend right alongside the newest members of the profession, making for outstanding dialogue. “The SCAI meeting brings together a couple thousand of your closest friends for 3 1⁄2 days. They may be your friends because you trained together or because you collaborated on a trial together,” says Dr. Weiner. “Or they may become your friends because you meet them at SCAI, in an environment where you have the time and the space to discover your commonalities.” Before the sessions begin each morning, and during the breaks, the areas outside the session rooms are teeming with energy. The Interventional Cardiology community assembles and there is palpable enthusiasm in the air. Many a successful initiative has been launched in SCAI’s gathering space. The opportunities for learning and collaboration are boundless. Make plans to join SCAI in Las Vegas, May 6–9, 2009. For more information, call 800-992-7224. n SCAI News & Highlights is published by The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions 2400 N Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 Phone 800-992-7224; Fax 202-689-7224 www.scai.org; www.Seconds-Count.org; info@scai.org Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., MPH, FSCAI, President Steven R. Bailey, M.D., FSCAI, President-Elect Bonnie H. Weiner, M.D., MSEC, MBA, FSCAI Immediate Past President Morton Kern, M.D., FSCAI, Editor-in-Chief Norm Linsky, Executive Director Sandra Baxter Surveys and Needs Assessment Cecilia Chao Special Projects Kerry O’Boyle Curtis Senior Director, Education, Meetings, and Communications Kathy Boyd David Managing Editor Ryan Donnells Specialist, Database and Accounting Saiza Elayda Assistant Director, Advocacy and Guidelines Rick Henegar Director, Meetings Andrea Hickman Manager, Meetings Sarah Jones Specialist, Operations & Administration Terie King Director, Accounting & Finance Kimberly Martin Coordinator, Committee Operations Wayne Powell Senior Director, Advocacy and Guidelines Beatrice Reyes Director, Operations Betty Sanger Sponsorship and Development Ashley Schafer Manager, Membership Rebecca Teichgraeber Associate Director, Education Beena Thomas Manager, Educational Programs & International Partnerships touch three Design and Production Imaging Zone Printing

Scenes From SCAI-ACCi2 The 2007 recipients of SCAI’s highest honor, the F. Mason Sones Distinguished Service Awards: Drs. Carlos E. Ruiz and Morton J. Kern (middle). Drs. Ruiz and Kern have been dedicated SCAI members for decades. Dr. Ruiz is an active SCAI Trustee and was among the first pediatric interventionalists to join the Society. Dr. Kern was the Society’s President in 1999–2000, during a pivotal time in SCAI’s history, and has chaired the Society’s Publications Committee for years.

SCAI reunites old friends. Years ago, Dr. Rita Watson trained Dr. Camellus O. Ezeugwu, but they lost touch in the years since. Seated at nearby tables during the Annual Banquet, a joyful reunion was sparked when SCAI Executive Director Norm Linsky helped them get reacquainted.

SCAI Presidents past, present, and future assembled in Chicago during the Society’s Annual Banquet. The Society is now more than 30 years and 4,000 members strong, in large part because of the commitment, dedication, and wisdom of these individuals.

SCAI honored Dr. J. Jeffrey Marshall with the 2008 F. Mason Sones Distinguished Service Award. SCAI President Dr. Bonnie Weiner cited Dr. Marshall’s tireless work as PR Committee co-chair (with Dr. Steven R. Bailey) to promote the Society as “the voice of interventional cardiology” and to build SCAI’s public/health professionals educational website, www.Seconds-Count.org. SCAI also honored two staff members, Communications Manager Kathy Boyd David and Development Director Betty Sanger, for their “around-the-clock commitment to SCAI’s mission.”

IFI and ICI Program (continued from page 1) How Does IFI Help Program Directors? George Dangas, M.D., Ph.D., FSCAI, worked closely with Dr. Parikh to develop the content for IFI, and he now chairs the Editorial Committee for IFI and ICI. The result of the collaboration is a tool that saves precious time for program George Dangas, M.D., directors, says Dr. Parikh. “What we Ph.D., FSCAI have done is make it exhaustively comprehensive,” he explains. “Things that are mundane, that program directors don’t want to spend too much time on, like radiation safety, getting arterial access, or using contrast, are in IFI so they can mandate the Fellows to do it on their own time, and they can really get to the meat of what they need. It’s very difficult for program directors to accomplish everything they need to in 12 months without IFI.” Because the program is fully customizable, program directors can select and assign courses from IFI’s broad menu of offerings to meet specific program needs, or, as is the case with several very prominent programs, says Dr. Parikh, they can “use this site as their sole didactic curriculum.” The director of one such program, John Lasala, M.D., Ph.D., FSCAI, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, assigns IFI as the core curriculum for his fellows-in-training. “The IFI website fills one of the most imporJohn Lasala, M.D., Ph.D., tant gaps in training interventional FSCAI fellows by providing an up-to-date, comprehensive review of interventional topics by world-class investigators. Their needs in preparing for their subspecialty boards and to meet their training requirements of their institutions can all be met.” IFI also streamlines administrative tasks. The program automatically generates e-mails to notify fellows and administrative assistants of assignments. And test results are transmitted directly to the program directors, making it easier for them to monitor the progress of their fellows. The resulting notes and logs also help maintain documentation requirements for accreditation.

IFI Goes Global With ICI IFI is now ready not only for all the fellows-in-training, but all of the practicing interventional cardiologists in and out of the United States. This past May, SCAI officially launched ICI, which is IFI’s counterpart for interventionalists who have completed their training. Like IFI, ICI is an entirely web-based eLearning curriculum and assessment program. The content

of the two programs is the same but, with ICI, the results of the tests at the end of each learning module are sent to the individual user, rather than a program director. “ICI was a clear, easy transition to practicing physicians because they have the same needs, but they don’t need program directors to know their score; they need to know their scores so they can achieve selfimprovement,” says Dr. Parikh. Development of this new SCAI educational offering began under the guidance of SCAI’s Immediate Past President, Bonnie Weiner, M.D., MSEC, MBA, FSCAI, who will continue to play an important role in its development and dissemination. It is sponsored by an educational grant from the Cordis Cardiac & Vascular Institute (CCVI). “Support for education and training of interventional cardiologists has been a long-standing commitment for Cordis, and we are pleased to sponsor this important educational activity,” says Frank Lyman, Vice President of CCVI. “It is our hope that the community will take advantage of ICI and the broad resources it offers,” says Dr. Hijazi. Dr. Parikh agrees: “I think ICI and IFI could be a way for the Society to be linked to every other interventional cardiology society all over the world.” n

IFI and ICI at a Glance IFI and ICI feature 14 eLearning courses and more than 70 educational modules. Each course is web-based and includes lectures by renowned faculty, an extensive library of narrated cases studies, interactive activities and practice questions with instant feedback, and self-assessment activities developed under ACGME guidelines:

IFI/ICI Courses

• Basic Science Concepts for the Interventional Cardiologist Cath Lab Basics Valvular, Structural, and Congenital Heart Disease Intracoronary Imaging and Physiology Patient- and Lesion-Specific Approaches Acute Myocardial Infarction and Thrombus Anticoagulation in the Cath Lab Coronary Stenting (i) Coronary Stenting (ii): Drug-Eluting Stents Advanced PCI Techniques and Devices High-Risk Groups and Complications Cardiac Imaging Peripheral Vascular Disease Carotid Artery Disease Enrollment is complimentary. To sign up or obtain more information, visit www.interventionalfellowsinstitute.com. If you have questions, email Beena Thomas at bthomas@scai.org.

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Dr. Ziyad M. Hijazi Installed as SCAI’s First ForeignBorn and First Pediatric Cardiologist President

n May 11, SCAI installed Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., MPH, FSCAI, as its 31st President A pioneer in the emerging subspecialty of structural heart disease, Dr. Hijazi treats both children and adults. He is the Director of the Rush Center for Congenital and Structural Heart Disease and Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Raised in Jordan, Dr. Hijazi is SCAI’s first foreignborn president. He is also the first pediatric cardiologist to head the Society. Both factors influence the goals Dr. Hijazi has set for his presidency. One of his top priorities is to enroll every pediatric and congenital interventional cardiologist as an SCAI member. Dr. Hijazi also plans to expand the Society’s international membership, noting the advantages of broadening collaboration and partnerships worldwide. “The more diverse the membership, the stronger the Society,” says Dr. Hijazi, noting that SCAI is already an international organization devoted to all interventional cardiologists regardless of their subspecialties. “Diversifying our membership even further is good for the profession and good for patients.”

Dr. Hijazi is SCAI’s first president who treats both adults and children.

In addition, Dr. Hijazi plans to expand SCAI’s focus on structural heart disease. Among his first initiatives as President was to establish the Structural Heart Disease Council (see related story at right). The Society will also develop structural heart disease guidelines, training recommendations, educational programs, and criteria for device approval. “My goal is for the field to flourish under SCAI,” says Dr. Hijazi. Dr. Hijazi began his training by completing a medical

After a very busy year, Dr. Bonnie Weiner handed over SCAI’s presidency to Dr. Hijazi. He took office on May 11.

degree and internship in Jordan, then earned a master’s of public health at the Yale University School of Medicine. He remained at Yale for a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in pediatric cardiology. Since then, Dr. Hijazi has had a distinguished career as both an academician and a practitioner. He spent eight years teaching at Tufts University School of Medicine before shifting in 1999 to the University of Chicago, where he served as chief of pediatric cardiology. He assumed his current position at Rush University Medical Center in 2007. Dr. Hijazi has written more than 200 articles, 25 book chapters, and three books. His work focuses on developing percutaneous techniques and devices to address congenital heart problems. As a result of his research, in 2001 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first device for closing atrial septal defects in children. Dr. Hijazi was also the first to show how physicians can use intracardiac echocardiography to guide transcatheter closure of atrial septal defects and patent foramen ovale. Dr. Hijazi has been active in SCAI since the early 1990s, when friends persuaded him to attend SCAI’s Annual Scientific Sessions. “It was hard to find anything about pediatric cardiology or congenital heart problems in the annual meetings and journals of bigger organizations,” he explains. “Because SCAI is more focused, you’re listened to and your special needs are met.” SCAI, he notes, devotes two days of its annual meeting and a special section of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions to pediatric and congenital issues. Dr. Hijazi is course director of the annual Pediatric Interventional Cardiac Symposium (PICS) jointly sponsored by SCAI and is an editorial board member for www.Seconds-Count.org. n

SCAI Creates New Structural Heart Disease Council

o develop guidelines and training standards for the emerging interventional cardiology subspecialty field of structural heart disease, SCAI has established the Structural Heart Disease Council. The Council’s mission includes encouraging research, delivering professional education, facilitating development of guidelines, fostering advocacy, and promoting public education and communication about the potential of interventional therapies for congenital and acquired heart conditions. “Structural heart disease is truly a new subspecialty, and it is rapidly delivering some of the most exciting advances in the field of medicine,” says SCAI President Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., MPH, FSCAI. “As the leading interventional cardiology association, SCAI believes this new Council will Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., develop a consensus on guidelines MPH, FSCAI and training specific to structural heart disease, establish criteria for structural heart disease research, and educate the medical community and the public about this new field. This effort is all part of making sure we are doing our best for patients.” SCAI’s Structural Heart Disease Council will create a forum for worldwide collaboration on issues facing cardiovascular specialists who treat structural heart disease, so that they have guidelines, tools, and resources that will help them to provide optimal patient care. SCAI envisions a multispecialty effort, led by this council, to promote communication and cooperation among organizations and cardiovascular societies in the field. Dr. Hijazi will chair the SCAI Structural Heart Disease Council with SCAI Past President Ted Feldman,

SCAI Welcomes New Trustees

Roxana Mehran, M.D., FSCAI New York City, NY

Corrado Tamburino, M.D., FSCAI Li Battiati, Italy

M.D., FSCAI. Carlos E. Ruiz, M.D., FSCAI, will co-chair the Council. “This is the first collaborative effort by a professional society to develop guidelines and performance criteria for this emerging field,” says Dr. Feldman. “We expect our efforts will lead the development of, and have Ted Feldman, M.D., a worldwide impact on, this subspeFSCAI cialty to achieve the fundamental goal of benefiting our patients.” Among the goals for the council is to facilitate the development of guidelines for training physicians in structural heart disease intervention in collaboration with both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics. The Council will also facilitate the estabCarlos E. Ruiz, M.D., lishment of objective performance FSCAI criteria for interventional therapies in structural heart conditions, including – • Aortic valve replacement, • Mitral valve repair/replacement techniques, • Pulmonary valve replacement, • Left atrial appendage closure, and • Paravalvar leaks (mitral and aortic). The SCAI Structural Heart Disease Council will include SCAI Fellow members, as well as representatives from a diverse range of professional medical societies committed to working together to advance the field and achieve the highest-quality care for patients. For more information on the Structural Heart Disease Council or to volunteer to participate, email Dr. Hijazi at president@scai.org. n

SCAI Thanks Dr. Di Mario for BOT Service Carlo Di Mario, M.D., FSCAI, began his term on the SCAI Board of Trustees in 2005. His contributions to the leadership of the Society have been extensive, including serving as one of SCAI’s ambassadors in Europe. Dr. Di Mario recently became the President-Elect of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI). “We thank Dr. Di Carlo Di Mario, M.D., Mario for his generous support of the Society and FSCAI for providing international perspective on SCAI initiatives,” says SCAI Immediate Past President Bonnie Weiner, M.D., MBA, MSEC, FSCAI. “We look forward to working with him through EAPCI as we expand our international relationships.” n

Editor’s Message

A New Day for SCAI

o paraphrase Dickens, “It was the best of times, and the worst of times” for SCAI. I am referencing the experimental melding of SCAI’s Annual Scientific Sessions with the ACC’s i2 Summit. Although the collaboration was in some respects a success for both organizations, many Society members worried we had lost autonomy and identity in an effort to fulfill the needs of the larger cardiology community. The educational and clinical presentations were excellent, as we all would expect from both SCAI and ACC. The problem was that Morton J. Kern, M.D., many attendees could not tell that FSCAI SCAI had in fact had a equal role in developing and hosting the meeting. It’s important to recognize that this “problem” was the fault of neither organization; in a meeting the size of ACC’s, it’s simply impossible for other organizations not to get lost. Interestingly, ACC announced last month that the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, whom we all know for TCT, will join with the College to provide the i2 Summit’s interventional content. We congratulate them and look forward to joining them wherever possible. For SCAI, the future is truly a return to our own course, as we move forward with our signature “Best of the Best in Interventional Cardiology.” Your Society’s leaders recognize that we will always continue to contribute to the ACC and the education of the generalist and the interventionalist alike, but that our current priority is to build on SCAI’s unique contributions to the specialty of cardiovascular medicine. The Society and its members will continue to enthusiastically lead, participate in, and cosponsor regional, national, and international meetings. We know with certainty that we will always contribute in a substantial and material way to our colleagues’ professional lives, thereby fulfilling our core mission. Please mark your calendars: The next SCAI Annual Scientific Sessions will be held May 6–9, 2009, in Las Vegas. I am looking forward to this annual meeting! I’m sure you, too, will enjoy returning to our roots with programming directed at not only the latest in interventional cardiology but also the fundamental and advanced educational offerings of hemodynamics, angiography, cardiac and non-coronary interventions, and the “Best of the Best” in case-based learning. If you have ever attended an SCAI annual meeting, then you know that the smaller size of our meeting does not mean small in stature or value. In fact, the opposite is true. Our smaller meeting means more val-

ue for attendees because we can meet the faculty face to face. One great strength of SCAI’s annual meeting is the forum it offers for conversing and exchanging ideas on a very intimate level with both young and not-so-young practitioners of our specialty. It is the “Best of the Best” in opportunities for sharing greetings, wisdoms, and insights. It is an SCAI tradition I missed this year. Finally, let me offer congratulations to our new president, Dr. Ziyad Hijazi, who brings a unique viewpoint as our first president drawn from the ranks of the interventional pediatric cardiology community. His energy and insight will provide a new direction for our Society for many years to come. Under Dr. Hijazi’s leadership, the Board of Trustees will map a strong future for our Society.

What can you do to help? Your personal participation in this Society is what makes it great. You may not believe you have a contribution to make, but your presence and your voice are welcome at the committee meetings and other activities of the Society. Attend one meeting that interests you — I guarantee you will find that you do have a contribution to make. And it will be of great value to our colleagues. Where to from here? SCAI’s future has never been brighter. We continue to educate, advocate, and support interventional cardiologists in their professional practice, thereby driving improvements in care for our patients. As chair of the Publications Committee and the Strategic Planning Communications Subcommittee, I am excited about where we are going next. I look forward to helping SCAI introduce and initiate programs that will have universal appeal to the membership, both national and international. Some of the issues to be addressed will include – • incorporating local and global cardiology-related communications; • joint preparation and dissemination of professional guidelines, position papers, and statements in both print and electronic formats; • closer linkage and collaboration with our professional and public websites; • cross-referencing and linking past, current, and future publications; • improving methods of communication and exchange of ideas; • new opportunities for communication and image development; and • increasing the role of this newsletter to include “News and Reviews.”

Ultimately, we will provide recommendations to coordinate our global strategy for promoting awareness of our Society and its mission. We hope to bring our sister and brother international organizations in interventional cardiology closer with collaborative activity suggestions for future partnerships.

The charge of SCAI’s Board of Trustees is to help the Society continue to flourish for many years. I hope you will participate. Through the Society, we will raise the level of visibility, education, and clinical excellence to help our colleagues and our patients. It’s all tremendously exciting stuff! n

Two Interventionalists-in-Training Receive SCAI/Cordis Research Grants

CAI and the Cordis Cardiac & Vascular Institute awarded $25,000 research grants to Santiago Garcia, M.D., and Aslan Turer, M.D., during the SCAI Annual Scientific Sessions in Partnership with ACC i2 Summit. Drs. Garcia and Turer will apply their grants to exploring promising advances in cardiovascular invasive/interventional techniques. Dr. Garcia, an interventional fellow-in-training at the University of Minnesota, received his SCAI/ Cordis research grant to undertake a project titled, “Postconditioning Improves Myocardial Salvage in Acute Myocardial Infarction,” while Dr. Turer, of Duke University, will implement his proposal, “Quantification of Myocardial Apoptosis Following Acute Coronary Syndromes by Serum Caspase-3 Measurement.” Each year, the SCAI/Cordis Fellowship Program for Interventional Cardiology selects two research proposals with the greatest potential to move the field of interventional cardiology forward and have a positive impact on patient care. “The 2008 SCAI/Cordis grant recipients both submitted outstanding applications,” said Committee Chair William G. Kussmaul, M.D., FSCAI. “Their goals were clearly stated, research plan explained thoroughly, endpoints defined, statistical analysis described in full, and with realistic budgets and timelines.” Both winning projects are also cutting edge, added Dr. Kussmaul, “although they differ greatly.” Dr. Garcia will examine a novel application of magnetic resonance cardiac imaging to assess the potential for myocardial salvage by use of post-conditioning after acute myocardial infarction. Dr. Turer’s research is a clinically interesting study of a novel measure of apoptosis after an acute coronary syndrome. He will also measure the marker levels in the coronary sinus in an effort to prove the heart is the source. “Cordis is proud to support the interventionalistsin-training research grants along with SCAI and congratulate Drs. Turer and Garcia,” said Frank Lyman, Vice President of the Cordis Cardiac & Vascular Institute, Cordis Corporation. “Cutting-edge research like they are undertaking has the potential to change the way patients are treated in the future.

This is how we continue to work together to defeat cardiac and vascular diseases.”

Apply Now for 2009 SCAI/ Cordis Research Grants SCAI is now accepting submissions for the 2009 awards program. To be eligible, candidates must — • Be serving as a fellow in an invasive/interventional cardiology training program accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education; • Have the approval of the training program director; and • Be sponsored by an SCAI Member or Fellow from the applicant’s institution. (A physician who has a current membership application on file with SCAI may also act as a sponsor.) The deadline for receipt of research proposals is Jan. 31, 2009. All applications must be submitted online. To download an application or obtain more information about how to submit a research proposal for consideration by the SCAI/Cordis Fellowship Program for Interventional Cardiology Committee, log on to www.scai.org, or contact Beena Thomas at bthomas@scai.org. n

Recipients of the SCAI/Cordis fellowship awards received congratulations from SCAI leaders and Cordis representatives. From left: SCAI Committee Chair Dr. William Kussmaul, awardees Dr. Santiago Garcia and Dr. Aslan Turer, President Dr. Bonnie Weiner, and CCVI Vice President Frank Lyman.

SCAI and GE Healthcare Award Research Grants for 2008 Program

t the SCAI Annual Scientific Sessions in Partnership with ACC i2 Summit, SCAI and GE Healthcare announced the recipients of the SCAI/GE Healthcare Fellows Grant Program for Research in Cardiovascular Angiography and Diagnostic Imaging. Samir Patel, M.D., of the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, and Andrew Klein, M.D., of the University of Colorado, each received a one-year grant of $30,000 to support their research. The SCAI/GE Healthcare fellows grant program supports the work of invasive/interventional cardiologists-in-training who have made outstanding contributions to the field of angiography and diagnostic imaging research. Dr. Patel won his grant for his project titled, “Ability of Multidetector Computed Tomography to Identify Left Atrial Thrombus in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and to Assess Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Device Therapy for Atrial Septal Defect Closure and Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion.” Dr. Klein’s project is titled, “Multi-Modality Imaging to Guide Carotid Artery Stenting in a Swine Model.” “To keep the field of interventional cardiology moving forward, we must also realize advances in angiography and imaging modalities,” said Neal Kleiman, M.D., FSCAI, who co-chairs the SCAI/GE Healthcare Fellowship Awards Committee with SCAI

President-Elect Steven R. Bailey, M.D., FSCAI. “This grant program encourages fellows-in-training to be innovative about the future of imaging.” “GE Healthcare is dedicated to Early Health, and these research grants are an opportunity to make earlier diagnosis and better patient care a reality,” said Elizabeth A. Gottshall, Vascular Brand Manager at GE Healthcare-Medical Diagnostics. “Since 2004, GE Healthcare and the Isosmolar Visipaque Team have been proud to sponsor this Fellows Program and we look forward to continuing this important research commitment.”

How to Apply for the 2009 Grant Program SCAI is now accepting applications for the 2009 SCAI/GE Healthcare Fellows Grant Program for Research in Cardiovascular Angiography and Diagnostic Imaging. Proposals must be submitted online at www.scai.org by Jan. 31, 2009. Successful applicants will demonstrate medical excellence in cardiovascular research, focusing on quality in x-ray–based diagnostic imaging and invasive cardiology. The recipients are chosen by the SCAI/ GE Healthcare Fellowship Awards Committee. Awards are divided into two categories: four applicants are awarded a trip to SCAI’s Annual Scientific Sessions and a two-year SCAI membership, and two of these final four applicants receive a one-year grant of $30,000 to support their cardiology research. Applicants must be serving as fellows in an accredited invasive/interventional training program recognized by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education; they must also have the approval of their training program director. Grants are limited to research conducted in the United States or Canada. For more information SCAI leaders and representatives of GE Healthcare-Medical Diagnostics congratulated the 2008 recipients of the SCAI/ about the program, conGE Healthcare fellowship awards. From left: SCAI Committee Co-chair Dr. Neal Kleiman; Elizabeth A. Gottshall, Vascular Brand Manager at GE Healthcare-Medical Diagnostics; Lauren Lim, Pharm.D., Medical Director of GE Healthcare-Medical tact Beena Thomas at Diagnostics; awardee Dr. Andrew Klein: Dr. Bonnie Weiner; Naomi Gordon, Senior Imaging Specialist of GE HealthcareMedical Diagnostics; honorable mention recipient Dr. Stan Thornton; awardee Dr. Samir Patel; SCAI Committee Co-chair bthomas@scai.org or 800Dr. Steven R. Bailey; and Dr. Ziyad M. Hijazi. 992-7224. n

Seconds-Count.org Expands on the Web: Version 2 Now Live

hen SCAI launched its Seconds-Count education campaign in 2007, the Society recognized the need for an accurate, comprehensive, and easily understood resource on cardiovascular disease for both patients and referring physicians. Last fall, SCAI launched the first phase of www. Seconds-Count.org. Since that time, the SecondsCount.org Editorial Board has worked to expand information for both patients and referring physicians, and establish frequently updated “Latest News” and “Straight from the Experts Blog” sections to provide visitors with accurate, current cardiology news and offer perspective on mainstream media stories. “We know that patients are seeking more and more medical information on the Web,” says J. Jeffrey J. Jeffrey Marshall, M.D., Marshall, M.D., FSCAI, editor-inFSCAI chief of Seconds-Count.org. “What they find on mainstream websites, and what they read or hear from the mainstream media, can often be alarming and inaccurate. Our goal is to provide an accurate, current, and comprehensive one-stop resource for both patients and physicians.” Patients can find new information in the “Working with Your Doctor” and “About My Heart and Arteries” sections. The newly expanded sections provide detail on a range of conditions – from peripheral artery disease to structural heart disease to coronary artery disease – all alongside the spectrum of treatment options. Patient case stories share first-hand experiences, and visitors will also find informational videos about stroke, coronary artery disease, stents, angioplasty, and more. As relevant news stories arise, SCAI Editorial Board members provide the physician’s perspective on the news through postings on the “Straight from the Experts Blog.” Blog entries are written in an easy-tounderstand format for patients, and serve to provide further background and clarification on current topics. Recent entries include the role of cardiac CT imaging, women’s risk for heart disease, and a review of latest data from clinical trials. The “Latest News” section further highlights the latest research. During the SCAI Annual Scientific

Sessions in Partnership with ACCi2 Summit (SCAIACCi2) in March, study summaries and highlights for both patients and physicians were posted each day of the conference shortly after study results were announced. “It’s often difficult for patients to distinguish accurate and inaccurate information on the Web,” says Dr. Marshall. “As an increasing number of cardiovascular disease patients receive interventional treatments, we have the opportunity to ensure they leave the Web well-informed and prepared to speak with their physician about their individual treatment plan.” Similarly, it’s often difficult for busy primary care physicians and general cardiologists to keep current on the latest interventional research. The “For Health Professionals” section provides referring physicians and other medical professionals with the latest evidenceZiyad M. Hijazi, M.D., based disease and treatment inforMPH, FSCAI mation, “hot topics,” and reviews of current clinical studies. “The site is a resource for referring physicians who may not have time to keep current on all of the latest interventional news and research,” says Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., MPH, FSCAI, SCAI president. “And it’s also a resource we can share with our patients to help them better understand their treatments.” How can you get involved? SCAI encourages you to share the website with your patients and colleagues, and post a link on your practice’s Web site. You can participate in discussions on the Blog or suggest a new topic, or share unique or interesting patient case studies. You can also subscribe to the Blog’s RSS feed to stay current on our latest entries and news. As always, SCAI welcomes your feedback at: pr@scai.org. Check back often for the latest updates! n

Maintaining Certification in Interventional Cardiology: What Interventionalists Need to Know

ore than 2,500 interventional cardiologists achieved certification when the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) established board certification in their subspecialty in 1999. Physicians in this first class of board-certified interventional cardiologists should now be completing the requirements to maintain their certification, which will expire Dec. 31, 2009. Among the requirements, physicians must hold an unrestricted medical license and be in good standing. In addition, interventional cardiologists must submit a Form Attesting to Interventional Cardiology Practice, verifying their performance as primary operator, co-operator, or supervisor of 150 percutaneous coronary interventional (PCI) cases in the two years prior to the expiration of the certificate. Interventional cardiologists also must have a valid certificate in cardiovascular disease. Fortunately, for those who have time-limited cardiovascular disease certificates, fulfillment of ABIM’s requirement for self-evaluation of medical knowledge and practice performance can count

SCAI Helps You Prepare for Board Recertification For physicians working to complete their Board recertification requirements, as well as those preparing for initial certification in interventional cardiology, SCAI will again offer its highly regarded Board Review course. Delivered in partnership with the American College of Cardiology Foundation, the Premier Interventional Cardiology and Board Preparatory Course will be held Aug. 22–24, 2008, in Dallas, TX. This year’s program will feature time dedicated to the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements, says Board Review Co-director and SCAI Past President Joseph D. Babb, M.D., FSCAI, FACC. “SCAI is eager to help its members prepare for and successfully Joseph D. Babb, complete the MOC requirements. At M.D., FSCAI, FACC the Board Review course, attendees will have access to an expert faculty, many with past experience in writing questions for the Board exams.” Dr. Babb’s co-chair is James E. Tcheng, M.D., FACC, FSCAI. The program includes an in-depth, comprehensive review of interventional cardiology, including an unbiased and up-to-date, evidence-based study of basic science, pharmacology, imaging, and procedural selection and technique. In addition, attendees will benefit from discussions of the ABIM exam guidelines and question-and-answer sessions liberally interspersed in the program. For more information on the Board Review course, visit http://www.scai.org/drlt1.aspx?PAGE_ID=5143, or call 800-992-7224.

For More Information… To enroll in Maintenance of Certification, visit ABIM’s website, www.abim.org and click on the “Physician Login.” Complete program details, including registration periods and exam dates, are available at www.abim.org. Click on “Get Information by Subspecialty” on the home page, select “Interventional Cardiology,” and then view the program components under “Maintenance of Certification.” Physicians may enroll and start working toward the self-evaluation requirements beginning immediately. Exams are offered in the spring and fall each year and can be taken from the sixth to tenth year of certification.

toward the renewal of both certificates. Physicians must pass separate exams in interventional cardiology and cardiovascular disease; however, both exams can be taken in the same spring or fall examination period. To meet the self-evaluation requirement, physicians must earn 100 points of self-evaluation in two areas, medical knowledge (minimum of 20 points) and practice performance (minimum of 20 points). Medical knowledge modules, which test clinical and practical knowledge, are available for interventional cardiology and cardiovascular disease; point credit is earned when a module is completed successfully. Another option to earn credit is to complete the Interventional Cardiology Simulations, the ABIM-developed catheterization lab simulation that provides an opportunity to perform procedures that interventional cardiologists typically encounter in practice. For information about medical simulations, visit the Self-Evaluation of Medical Knowledge page at www.abim.org. Physicians must also complete at least one of ABIM’s PIM Practice Improvement Modules, which enables them to examine their interventional cardiology practice and identify opportunities for improvement. Several options are available to earn practice performance credit, including the Preventive Cardiology PIM, the Communication with Referring Physicians PIM, the Self-Directed PIM using ACC-NCDR measures, and the ACC “Door-to-Balloon” (D2B) Time Initiative. Details for each option are in the “Improve your practice with PIMs” section of www.abim.org. Because the self-evaluation points are good for 10 years, they can be applied toward the renewal of both the interventional cardiology and cardiovascular disease certificates as long as the points are still valid when each certificate expires. In addition, many health plans are now recognizing and rewarding physicians who complete PIMs and maintain their certification. Physicians participating in Maintenance of Certification can receive CME credit for completing the selfevaluation modules and preparing to pass the exam. n

ADVOCACY & GUIDELINES UPDATE

SCAI at Work on Advocacy in Washington, DC

t press time, SCAI continued to support efforts to avert a 10.6 percent Medicare fee cut effecting July 1, 2008. This issue is among the top priorities for the Society, as it is for the entire House of Medicine; however, SCAI is also working tirelessly on a host of other policy and advocacy issues.

device or medication in a situation where it is his or her best judgment that it is in the best interest of the patient whether approved for that situation or not.” At press time, SCAI was fairly confident that the Medicare intermediary would continue to allow offlabel usage in its final coverage policy.

Proposed Physician Payment Rule for 2009 The draft payment rule issued for 2009 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) contains a variety of onerous proposals, most of them focused on non-hospital imaging. CMS has proposed a modest increase of 1.2% for invasive and interventional cardiology procedures relative values. This increase, noteworthy because most other cardiology procedures are facing relative value reductions, is a direct result of the long-time efforts of the Society. For a compilation of the fees for common interventional procedures, visit http://www.scai.org/pdf/2009proposedfees.pdf.

Peripheral Stenting Another important issue SCAI was handling at press time was review of a confidential report on peripheral interventions. At the request of federal agencies, SCAI leaders were reviewing the report requested by Medicare officials, which Carl Tommaso, M.D., SCAI believes may be the basis for a FSCAI new coverage decision. “It is crucial that we make sure that CMS has all the data and that those data are properly interpreted as early as possible in this process,” said Advocacy Committee Co-chair Carl Tommaso, M.D., FSCAI.

Off-Label Use of Stents At press time, SCAI was working to convince a Medicare intermediary that the off-label use of stents is appropriate for many patients with cardiovascular disease. The intermediary had issued a draft policy that would eliminate Medicare coverage for all offlabel use of stents, including both bare metal and drug eluting, in five states and portions of many others, whose claims it handles. SCAI responded swiftly with detailed comments pointing out, among other things, that patients suffering acute myocardial infarction are one important example of patients whose treatment with stents is considered an off-label use even though “Rapid access to reperfusion via PCI and stent placement is universally recognized as the best treatment option for patients with acute MI.” SCAI also showed that cardiovascular patients typically excluded from randomized clinical trials because of comorbidities or failed medical therapy would be denied beneficial and appropriate treatment with stents as a result of this policy change. Citing numerous studies, SCAI President Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., MPH, FSCAI, urged the Medicare intermediary to reconsider its plans. “Off-label does not imply unstudied,” he wrote. “… Off-label use of stents is widely recognized in well-respected professional guidelines and has been accepted by Medicare for over a decade. Regulatory agencies have repeatedly stated that they cannot and will not control the practice of medicine by limiting a physician’s judgment to use an approved

Hospital Outpatient Payment Rule SCAI continues to fight a decision by CMS to bundle intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) into a standard ambulatory payment classification (APC) package. Following SCAI recommendations that the two procedures should be separately reimbursed because bundling would discourage the use of valuable technologies with potential to improve patient care and reduce overall costs, the agency’s Advisory Committee on APC agreed with SCAI and advised unbundling. Unfortunately, CMS over-ruled its committee in its draft rule. SCAI is developing further feedback on the proposed rule. Likewise, the Advocacy Committee is working to identify ways to improve APC payment rates for invasive and interventional procedures. These rates are frequently one-half to one-third the payments made for the same procedure performed on an inpatient basis. As a result of this policy, insurers are pressuring hospitals and physicians to treat almost all patients on an outpatient basis without any credible evidence that this is a safe practice (see related story on page 15). Get Involved SCAI’s Advocacy Committee is busier that ever, in Washington, DC, as well as in states and with thirdparty payers. This dedicated group of volunteers and staff welcomes the input and efforts of SCAI members,

The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions with or without experience in policymaking or advocacy. To find out how you can get involved, see page 16, or contact Kimberly Martin at kmartin@scai.org or call 800-992-7224. n

SCAI Task Force Addresses Questions on Outpatient Angioplasty

n an effort to ensure safety and optimal care following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), SCAI has appointed a task force whose charge is to help hospitals and physicians determine the appropriate length of stay following the procedure. Chaired by SCAI Past President Carl Tommaso, M.D., FSCAI, the new task force is working with insurers and other societies to develop recommendations that will ensure optimal care following the nearly one million PCI procedures that are performed each year in the United States. In most hospitals, standard PCI care involves an overnight hospital stay for observation and monitoring. Increasingly, insurers are pressing hospitals to perform PCI on an outpatient basis despite concerns by physicians that patients who are older or have complications or comorbities may need to be admitted for observation. “We know there is no one-size-fits-all approach to medicine, and this is certainly true for outpatient PCI,” says Bonnie H. Weiner, M.D., MSEC, MBA, FSCAI, SCAI Immediate Past President. “SCAI’s goal is to help both physicians and hospitals ensure those patients who need additional care and observation are not sent home too soon.” Additionally, some patients who return home may not have access to appropriate emergency medical care in the case of a complication, and they would benefit from staying closer to specialized care, Dr. Weiner says. “We want to ensure each patient has every opportunity to have the best possible outcome from their procedure and there is currently no evidence on the safety of outpatient PCI,” says Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., MPH, FSCAI, SCAI President. “Our goal in appointing this task force is to equip caregivers and hospitals with expert consensus on how to provide optimal care following PCI.” For more information about how you can participate, contact Wayne Powell at wpowell@scai.org. n

gratefully acknowledges

the assistance provided by the following commercial supporters and exhibitors and

appreciates

their ongoing commitment to physician education.

Boston Scientific Cordis Cardiac and Vascular institute St. Jude Medical Foundation Abbott Vascular The Medicines Company Genentech

In the Trenches

Treating Patients at Home and Abroad

reat every patient like your mom or dad: That’s the philosophy behind the 19-person practice that J. Jeffrey Marshall, M.D., FSCAI, and his colleagues have built at the Northeast Georgia Heart Center in a fast-growing suburb of Atlanta. And that’s one of the reasons the Northeast Georgia Medical Center has ranked number-one in the state for cardiac care for three years running. “The bottom line is, we want to do the best for each patient,” explains Dr. Marshall, who is the Heart Center’s president and the director of the Medical Center’s catheterization laboratory. “That has helped create an atmosphere not just within the practice but within the hospital that makes patients feel people really do care.”

children can attend school. “Once you do it, you’re thankful for everything you have—just having clothes,” says Dr. Marshall. “You don’t realize how poor poor really is.”

“Branding” Interventional Cardiology Dr. Marshall is also intent on making sure that patients, their families, and their physicians know what interventional cardiology is and how it can help them. After serving two terms on SCAI’s Board, he came to a realization: “Nobody knew our brand,” he says. “Other physicians and certainly laypeople had no idea who we were.” To remedy that, he helped the Board to establish the Public Relations Committee. Now co-chaired by Dr. Marshall and Steven R. Bailey, M.D., FSCAI, the committee has grown from just a few people to an active, productive group. Among the committee’s latest projects is a new Website at www.Seconds-Count.org. “One of the tenets of the Society is education—not just of our members but of referring physicians and patients,” explains Dr. Marshall, who is serving as editor-in-chief of the site for its first three years. At the 2008 Scientific Sessions, Dr. Marshall received the Society’s highest honor; he was awarded F. Mason Sones Jr. SCAI Distinguished Service Award for his tireless efforts to help the public and the media to understand the lifesaving role of interventional cardiology in medicine. “Like so many other facets of medicine, interventional cardiology has become so complex it’s really difficult for even noninterventional cardiologists to keep up,” he says. “One of our prime goals is to make sure we let other doctors understand what it is we do, when they should refer someone, and so on.”

From Academic to Clinical Medicine After earning his medical degree from the University of Florida in 1982, Dr. Marshall completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiology and angioplasty at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. Dr. Marshall then spent a decade at Emory University, directing the catheterization lab at the university’s Emory Crawford Long Hospital. But while Dr. Marshall enjoyed academic medicine, he couldn’t resist the chance to try something new. In 2002, he and three other colleagues left Emory to join the Northeast Georgia Heart Center. “The idea of building something new was intriguing,” he says. “It was just a great opportunity.” Today Dr. Marshall spends his days seeing patients, performing catheterizations, and tackling administrative duties. The hospital “has invested heavily in catheterization and intervention,” he says, “and has been gracious enough to furnish state-of-the-art catheterization labs.” The group is also very involved in research, with about 20 active trials and four full-time research nurses. Dr. Marshall doesn’t necessarily need extensive equipment to help people, however. Once or twice a year, he and a radiologist friend journey to Haiti to provide care to some of the poorest people in the world. “We travel to different clinics and hospitals, where we perform echocardiography and provide cardiovascular care and consults for patients, mostly patients with AIDS,” says Dr. Marshall. Sponsored by the Catholic Church of St. Monica in Atlanta, the project also provides general medi- Every year, Dr. Marshall journeys to Haiti to offer medical care to the people there. cal care, dental care, food, and scholarships so

While Dr. Marshall has overall editorial oversight, he says, a fantastic editorial board of thought-leaders in just about every aspect of interventional cardiology manage the site’s content. Dr. Marshall welcomes ideas and volunteers.

An Eye on Sports When he’s not working, Dr. Marshall likes to relax at home in Atlanta with his wife, Julie, and their dog. “Julie put me through medical school,” he says, describing her career as a graphics artist. “We met in high school and have been married 30 years.”

Dr. Marshall is also an enthusiastic sports fan, especially when it comes to his four grown children. “All of my kids have been involved in athletics in one way or another,” says Dr. Marshall. One son is a world-class swimmer. Another plays football at Colgate University, while still another plays lacrosse for the University of Florida. His daughter was an associate producer at ESPN and continues to freelance for the network. Does he enjoy sports even when his kids aren’t involved? “I’m a University of Florida grad,” Dr. Marshall admits. “You can’t be a Gator and not be a sports fan!” n

C3 Summit Teams Up With Peripheral Intervention Summit and All That Jazz

ore than 80 interventional cardiology fellowsin-training attended this year’s Annual Interventional Fellows Complex Coronary Complications (C3) and Peripheral Intervention Summit, which was held in conjunction with the 17th Annual Peripheral Angioplasty and All That Jazz program in New Orleans. Designed specifically for fellows in their final year of training, the program provided a unique opportunity to examine some of the most challenging cases and complications that interventional cardiologists face in their care of patients. As is the tradition of SCAI’s C3 Summit, fellows presented their own tough cases and then heard feedback and questions from both the expert faculty and attendees. Based on participant evaluation, the top three cases were selected to receive a cash award and plaque noting the Jeffrey Popma, M.D., excellence of their presentation (see FSCAI sidebar). The C3 program and competition were directed by SCAI Past President Jeffrey J. Popma, M.D., FSCAI. “A major goal of the C3 Summit is to prepare graduating interventional cardiology fellows for the more difficult complications they may see after they leave training and to help them avoid complications in the first place,” said Dr. Popma. Complementing the C3 Summit portion of the program was joining the C3 Summit with the Peripheral Intervention Summit, directed by John P. Reilly, M.D., FSCAI. The highly regarded program offered fellows a full half-day of programing focused on peripheral arterial disease cases and reviews, including carotid, renal, and iliac interventions. Many of the fellows-in-training also attended the 17th Annual Peripheral Angioplasty and All That Jazz program, directed by Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions Editor-in-Chief Christopher J. White,

M.D., FSCAI, Stephen Ramee, M.D., FSCAI, Tyrone J. Collins, M.D., FSCAI, J. Stephen Jenkins, M.D., FSCAI, J.P. Reilly, M.D., FSCAI, and Lori Ventura, R.N. “On behalf of SCAI, we extend special thanks to Dr. White for including the C3 Summit in the All That Jazz program,” says Dr. Popma. Fellows-in-training joined practicing cardiologist attendees for a state-of-the-art symposium on structural heart disease and stroke, a half-day focused on renal interventions, and case demonstrations. During two full days of general and concurrent sessions, attendees heard from world-renowned faculty, who delivered lectures designed for easy application to practice, including “Ten Things You Need to Know About …” topics such as carotid intervention, complex cerebrovascular intervention, vascular access and acute limb ischemia, renovascular hypertension, and lower-extremity disease. The Annual Interventional Fellows Complex Coronary Complications (C3) and Peripheral Intervention Summit was supported by a generous educational grant from Cordis Cardiac & Vascular Institute (CCVI). n

Congratulations, C3 Summit Presenters SCAI congratulations all of the interventional cardiology fellows-in-training selected to present their most challenging complications at the Annual Interventional Fellows Complex Coronary Complications (C3) and Peripheral Intervention Summit. The winners of this year’s competition for the best presentations are as follows:

• First Place – John Trotter, M.D., of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, for his case “EP Mishap”;

• Second Place – Ants Palm-Leis, M.D., of Scott and White Clinic, for his case “It Happens”; and

• Third Place — Branavan Umakanthan, M.D., of Western Pennsylvania Hospital, for his case “The Slippery Stent.”