In this issue:
- “Not all cuts disappear”: We take a look at the threat posed to vascular surgery—and the office-based lab (OBL) setting in particular—by looming cuts to Medicare. Reporting includes the presidential address delivered by Kellie R. Brown, MD, at the 2021 annual meeting of the Midwestern Vascular Surgical Society (MVSS) in Chicago (p. 1 and 6)
- Andrew J. Meltzer, MD, takes a look at medical liability in vascular practice, declaring: “We don’t have a quality problem. We have a medicolegal system problem” (p. 2 and 4)
- News from the 2021 Eastern Vascular Society (EVS) annual meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, including: “Registry data show greater clot chronicity on post-procedure inspection than initially predicted” (p. 8)
- Another story from the EVS meeting involves a report on the 18-year experience of Gregg Landis, MD, with PTFE bypass grafts: “PTFE crural bypasses: ‘Very acceptable patency, excellent limb salvage is obtainable with a fairly aggressive approach’” (p. 15)
- Late-breaking trial data presented at the Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) 2021 meeting in Las Vegas, including: “Two-year Ranger DCB data: ‘Sustained, high rate’ of device efficacy” (p. 16)
- A bumper Corner Stitch section, which includes W. James Melvin, MD, on his journey as a trainee surgeon-scientist, covering on mentorship, passion and the importance of parallel projects (p. 20–21)
- SVS Foundation grows donation base, ‘yielding an impressive return on investment,’ chair Peter Lawrence, MD, writes (p. 25)
