In April 2023, Vascular Specialist readers were drawn to an interview dissecting the role robotics play, and can play in the future, in vascular surgery; a report of a new study that trialled the explantation of mature arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) from patients with venous outflow obstruction; and a conversation with two members of the Society of Black Vascular Surgeons on the advocacy, mentorship and networking their society does.
1. Robotic surgery: ‘We’ve missed the boat on this,’ says Houston vascular chief
An emerging program at Houston Methodist aims to help prod those practicing in the vascular surgical space deeper into the field of robotic surgery, Alan Lumsden, MD, tells Vascular Specialist.
2. Computational model found to predict early aortic abdominal aneurysm rupture
In Physics of Fluids, researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Varanasi and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur published a computational model of the cardiovascular system in order to predict early abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture and monitor patients’ blood vessel conditions.
3. Award-winning paper finds F/BEVAR ‘feasible and safe’ in patients with failed aortic repairs
Andrea Vacirca, MD, revealed how, despite prior records which demonstrate that fenestrated-branched endovascular aortic repair (F/BEVAR) is “feasible and safe” in patients with failed aortic repairs, few studies have outlined the “granular data” to support this claim, which his team aimed to provide through their analysis.
4. SVS announces officer candidates for 2023 election
The 2023 Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Nominating Committee has announced the candidates for the 2023 officer election. For the full candidate biographies and statements—and to register for a May 17 “Meet the Candidates” event—visit the SVS website.
5. A call to arms: Reuse of mature venous conduits urged
“Recycle that vein!” is the appeal from the authors of a new study that trialled the explantation of mature arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) from patients with venous outflow obstruction in one extremity and translocation of them to the contralateral extremity.
6. Intentional mentorship and pushing beyond representation
Chicago medical student Maria Paz, BS, discusses intentional mentorship—and why she believes it matters.
7. Creating an AI-based tool to help clinicians perform precision AAA analysis
Vascular surgeon Randy Moore, MD, believes the route to a world of precision care for individual abdominal aortic aneurysm patients—involving aortic wall strength-mapping technology developed over the course of the last 15 years, allied to an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered algorithm—is drawing nearer.
8. 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. Vincent Rowe, MD, and Edwin Kendrick, MD, discuss the importance and work of the Society of Black Vascular Surgeons.
9. BASIL-2 points towards endovascular-first revascularization strategy in CLTI patients
In the BASIL-2 trial of 345 patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), a best endovascular treatment-first revascularization strategy was associated with better amputation-free survival than a vein bypass-first strategy in those who required an infrapopliteal repair.
10. On 45th anniversary, CX Symposium chairman credits Chicago vascular surgical tandem for enduring success
Roger Greenhalgh, MD, tells how the brilliance of a meeting set up by John J. Bergan, MD, and James S. T. Yao, MD, inspired him to create something similar back in London, England, where the then-young vascular surgeon, soon-to-be surgery department chair, would birth the CX Symposium at Charing Cross in 1978.
