Coding: Increasing complexity and lost RVUs—a drop in the ocean?

A vascular surgery team at Audie L. Murphy VA Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, uncovers “staggeringly low” numbers of correctly coded billing for three commonly performed vascular procedures, raising concerns over cases with more complex coding. Not long after…
Midterm CARAS study results show cerebral ischaemic event incidence “should not be underestimated”

The final publication of midterm results from the observational CARAS study suggest that cerebral ischaemic event (CIE) incidence in asymptomatic carotid stenosis patients “should not be underestimated”, so say authors Rodolfo Pini (University of Bologna, Italy) and colleagues, relaying these…
University of Pittsburgh awards $100,000 grant to SVS member for AI-based healthcare project

Last October, the University Pittsburgh’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute hosted its 10th Pitt Innovation Challenge (PinCh), providing a total of $550,000 in prizes, with the top-three winners each receiving a $100,000 grand prize. PinCh 2023 announced that SVS member…
International collaboration unveils updated PAD guidelines in diabetic foot ulcers

The International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF), the European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) and the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) have jointly released updated guidelines for the diagnosis, prognosis and management of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in…
First procedures announced in study of novel peripheral IVL system

FastWave Medical has announced the successful completion of enrollment for its first-in-human (FIH) study with the company’s peripheral intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) technology. The prospective, single-arm study aims to assess the safety and performance of FastWave’s IVL system in patients with…
First patients enrolled in VBX FORWARD clinical study

Gore has announced that the first patients have been enrolled in the Gore VBX FORWARD clinical study, a global prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial to compare the Gore Viabahn VBX balloon expandable endoprosthesis (VBX stent graft) to bare metal stenting for patients…
U.S. Aortic Research Consortium maps out F/BEVAR preoperative risk factors for one-year mortality in complex AAAs, TAAAs

A series of preoperative risk factors—including currently smoking, chronic kidney disease (CKD), congestive heart failure (CHF), aneurysm size greater than 7cm, more advanced age (75 or over), Crawford extent I–III thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAAs), known chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),…
The utility of renal stenting in hemodialysis patients: One in five found to come off dialysis after being stented

A fifth of patients among a chronic kidney disease (CKD) cohort on hemodialysis—a rare subset pulled from a large repository of national data—were able to come off the treatment following renal artery stenting, a team of researchers from the University…
BEST-CLI: A year down the road

A dedicated session at the 2023 VEITHsymposium (Nov. 14–18) in New York City aimed to unpack the ways in which clinical practice and attitudes in the field of chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) have changed since the BEST-CLI trial was published…
No increased risk of complications found with transradial access for carotid artery stenting

Carotid artery stenting (CAS) delivered via transradial artery access has demonstrated no increased risk of stroke, death, myocardial infarction, transient ischaemic attack, or access site complications, as compared to the more traditional transfemoral approach. That is the concluding finding of…

