Spotlight: Melina Kibbe, James Black and Firas Mussa

Melina Kibbe, MD, has been named the 17th dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine and chief of the Health Affairs Office for UVA Health in Charlottesville, Virginia. She will start Sept. 15. Kibbe is currently the Colin…
SVS Foundation Board, Development Committee approved

The SVS Executive Board has approved the 2021–22 SVS Foundation Board appointments, as recommended by the Foundation Board. Continuing for an additional one-year term of office are Richard Lynn, MD, and William Shutze, MD, and joining the board for a…
Females were 30% less likely to undergo surgery for PAD, national database study finds

A review of more than 1 million patients receiving vascular surgery over a 16-year period identified significant sex-related disparities in the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) and peripheral arterial disease (PAD)—with females 30% less likely to undergo surgery in…
USPSTF expands screening recommendation for prediabetes, type-2 diabetes to adults aged 35-plus

The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued an updated recommendation statement suggesting clinicians screen for prediabetes and type-2 diabetes in overweight or obese adults aged 35–70 years—capturing patients five years earlier than the previous advisory from 2015.…
SVS billing and coding workshop to take place Dec. 5 and 6

While a surgeon’s expertise is key to patient outcomes, coding and documenting the procedures are key to the surgeon’s payment and reimbursement. And, when it comes to billing and coding, a twist of an adage applies: What you don’t know…
SVS membership, CME-MOC deadlines fall in September

The third deadline of 2021 to apply for Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) membership is Sept. 1. Be a part of the premiere organization representing vascular surgeons and allied health professions, and reap the substantial benefits SVS offers. These include…
VAM discussion on latest paclitaxel meta-analysis yields mix of caution, skepticism

A Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) sponsored session on paclitaxel safety drew a mix of skeptical and cautious responses to the latest meta-analysis from interventional radiologist Konstantinos Katsanos, MD, that reported a heightened risk of major amputation after use of paclitaxel-coated balloons…
Amputation rates higher for people with PAD who are poor or Black

Poverty and Black race were associated with higher rates of lower-leg amputation among people with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) who live in metropolitan areas, according to new research published today in a special issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA), an open…
Registration for UCLA-SVS vascular review course open

The Sixth Annual University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Symposium returns as a live course for 2021 from Oct. 1 to 3 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. The October dates are a change…
First patient enrolled in AAA-SHAPE Netherlands study

Shape Memory Medical has announced the initiation of AAA-SHAPE Netherlands, the company’s prospective, multicenter early feasibility study of the Impede-FX RapidFill device when used for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) sac management during elective endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). The Dutch study’s first procedure…

