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Broader advocacy efforts are needed to address workforce, payment challenges
Innovation in vascular surgery goes beyond new devices and procedures. It also requires new approaches to advocacy in a health care system increasingly shaped by consolidation, workforce shortages and shifting employment models. That was the central message from Margaret Tracci,…
Study links clopidogrel genetic variants to cardiovascular risk after PAD intervention
Genetic variants that reduce the effectiveness of clopidogrel may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients undergoing peripheral artery disease (PAD) interventions, according to research presented at VAM 2026. The study found that around one in five…
‘Treat the water, not just the pipes’: Addressing prevention in vascular care
“The artery is ours and it should be all of it,” said Lily Johnston, MD. “Trying to reroute the blood flow without changing what runs through it is like changing the pipes in a house without addressing the toxic wastewater…
Subspecialty certification: Solution or added burden?
Should vascular surgeons receive additional certification in specific areas of practice? That question was explored at VAM 2026, where Kellie Brown, MD, professor of surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin, discussed the potential benefits and challenges of formal subspecialty…
‘We are all family’: Calligaro calls for unity and innovation during VAM presidential address
During his presidential address at VAM 2026, Keith Calligaro, MD, called on vascular surgeons to think beyond today’s clinical challenges and outlined a vision for the specialty built around unity, innovation, education and patient advocacy. Speaking before a record-breaking attendance…
Can tailored thromboprophylaxis reduce amputation risk?
One in five endovascular procedures fails within six months and for decades vascular surgeons have answered that statistic with the same blunt toolkit: aspirin, clopidogrel, or whatever combination a given surgeon prefers. This year’s Frank J. Veith Distinguished Lecture at…
Elective PVI for claudication linked to worse limb outcomes and higher costs
Vascular surgeons have long debated whether and when to intervene on claudication. A new study suggests the field may be intervening too often, too early and with consequences that compound over time. The findings, recently published in the Journal of…
Finding common ground begins with shared experiences
During the keynote address at VAM 2026, author and political commentator Michael Smerconish argued that one of the greatest challenges facing the United States is not political disagreement itself, but the steady erosion of shared experiences that once connected communities.…
Obituary: Bruce A. Perler
Bruce Alan Perler, who established the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy at The Johns Hopkins Hospital over his 44-year tenure as a surgeon, died July 23 of complications of pancreas cancer at home with his family. He was…
Better education, communication may help reduce disparities in dialysis care
Disparities in vascular access outcomes are driven less by biology and more by inequities in education and communication, according to Karen Woo, MD, PhD, professor of surgery at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. During a session focused on…