A vascular mission: Defying assumptions in the fight against amputation in disadvantaged areas

Lyssa Ochoa, MD, is used to the assumptions. One: ”What a nice program you have.” Another: “It must be so nice that you can give away all of this charity care.” Ochoa is the founding vascular surgeon behind the SAVE…
Society of Black Vascular Surgeons builds bridges, connects international dots

A decade ago, if he were asked to name 10 Black vascular surgeons, says one African American vascular chief, he could have come up with six or seven. Today after being part of the creation and formation of the Society…
Tackling health insecurity ‘from the top down and the bottom up’

The feeling of being “uncertain, anxious and vulnerable” defines a creeping health insecurity problem riddling parts of the U.S. patient population—demographics who are underserved and at higher risk of outcomes such as amputation. And they can be a barrier to…
Women’s Vascular Summit: Diving into issues around women’s vascular health and the female workforce

The Women’s Vascular Summit was established five years ago with the twin purposes of delving deeper into the issues that surround women’s vascular health and disparate outcomes, and establishing a venue where women vascular surgeons could help elevate and empower…
Annals of Vascular Surgery announces special issue dedicated to original work by women

The Annals of Vascular Surgery peer-review journal has announced an upcoming special issue dedicated to original work by women that is set to be guest edited by Caitlin W. Hicks, MD, the associate fellowship program director for vascular surgery and…
VQI analysis links high levels of neighborhood deprivation to more severe PAD

Patients categorized as living in neighborhoods with high levels of disadvantage under the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) measure of community adversity have more advanced peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and lower rates of revascularization versus amputation, a new retrospective analysis of…
SVS Foundation seeks applicants for VISTA projects

The SVS Foundation started to seek proposals in mid-April for pilot outreach projects to help identify needed vascular services in underserved portions of the U.S. The projects will be part of the Foundation’s VISTA (Vascular Volunteers In Service To All)…
Study highlights need to extend scope of cerebrovascular health disparities research

A new research letter in Stroke outlines use of the novel National Institutes of Health (NIH) All of Us research program dataset of diverse participant data to identify factors that increase the risk of carotid artery stenosis and those who…
Prediabetes screening: ‘Target of reducing disparities should be geared towards advocacy’

On Aug. 24, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) published the newly updated recommendations regarding screening for prediabetes and type-2 diabetes mellitus.1,2 The recommendation has been graded B, which translates to at least fair evidence to suggest that…
SVS Foundation’s new initiative to address disparities in vascular health

Significant disparities in healthcare services in the United States result in unnecessary limb loss, stroke and death. Vascular health professionals are developing new programs to address these inequities, through the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Foundation. The SVS Foundation Volunteers…

