Current Concepts and Controversies in Vascular and Endovascular Surgery: 2020

Current Concepts and Controversies in Vascular and Endovascular Surgery: 2020

The postgraduate course in vascular and endovascular surgery provides a unique function as it involves all of the Boston and Eastern Massachusetts medical centers to provide faculty, including many leaders on a national and international scale with a focused, up to date approach towards multiple topics of interest in vascular disease, including patient assessment by vascular surgeons and other vascular specialists. As such, it will try to help provide the optimal approach for the evaluation, diagnostic, and management (including technical performance in ‘How I Do It’) and offer specific treatment options for a whole array of vascular problems. This will provide a current comprehensive review of the evaluation and management of this patient population as well as address many of the existing controversies. This should translate into improved patient outcomes through a better understanding of pathogenesis, the diagnosis, and the natural history of the disease processes and how to select the optimal methodology for the treatment.

The teaching format will include short lectures by the faculty, followed by a panel discussion where we will address many of the issues. This will provide the attendees the opportunity to ask multiple questions relating to the lectures and session presentations. This interactive session will help the course attendees improve their knowledge and competence in the practice of treating patients with vascular disease. During appropriate sessions, there will be formal debates on controversial topics to help the attendees appreciate the different points of view in these complex clinical problems. In addition, at the end of each day of lectures, there will also be numerous specific case presentations to help emphasize the lectured topics using the example of real patients with the vascular disease of the prior day sessions.

The target audience for this postgraduate course is very broad. It includes any clinical practitioner treating patients with vascular disease in any capacity. This includes vascular, general, and cardiothoracic surgeons, as well as interventional radiologists and cardiologists and may also be helpful for intensivists as well as emergency medicine personnel who see patients with vascular disease. Those who wish to have a greater depth of understanding and appreciation for the evaluation and treatment options for patients with vascular disease will clearly benefit from this course. The qualifications of the participants can be on the level of physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, as well as trainees such as residents and fellows.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

Recognize optimal medical management and identify which current treatments are appropriate for carotid artery disease Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of carotid stenting and endarterectomy Apply current guidelines for aortic aneurysm evaluation and management Determine the optimal management for patients with endoleak after EVAR Integrate contemporary evidence and recommendations into the care of patients with lower extremity venous insufficiency and guidelines for treatment of diabetic ulcers Compare the best available options for treating lower extremity ischemia Employ endovascular therapies for peripheral artery occlusive disease, and which are appropriate Manage acute arterial ischemia and venous disease according to current Society for Vascular Surgery guidelines Identify multiple issues related to vascular medicine and the medical treatment of these patients Recognize complications in treatment including myocardial infarction, bleeding Define multiple methodologies to minimize their and the patients exposure to X-ray radiation

Target Audience

This course is targeted to Primary Care Physicians, Specialty Physicians, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants. This course may also be of interest to physicians who practice in Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, Surgery, and Thoracic Surgery.

Course Director

Glenn M. LaMuraglia, MD
Professor of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital