BCIS Advanced Cardiovascular Interventions 2011 report

Published date : 14 February 2011
Article date : 14 February 2011

Advanced Cardiovascular Interventions, the annual meeting of UK interventional cardiologists, held in London was a 3 day programme of live cases, lectures and industry sessions. The highlight was the Keynote Lecture given by Kenneth Chien from Massachusettes General Hospital, Boston USA. Professor Chien gave a tour de force of progress in the world of stem cell therapy. Eloquent and enlightening, he gave the gathering a glimpse of the (not too distant) future where injection of prepared and programmed stem cells could effectively repair damaged heart muscle.

Industry sessions focussed on antithrombotic therapy and development of new products for use in coronary intervention.

Dr Carmen Walbert, Medical Director of Medtronic gave an overview of the future role of the interventionalist. She touched on development of the new Integrity range of intracoronary stents with a new coil designed to enhance delivery. She gave an overview of the complete range of Medtronic products in the field of cardiovascular disease. This ranged from stents designed for deployment in the pudendal artery for erectile dysfunction, radiofrequency ablation for resistant hypertension, leadless pacemakers and of course, the Corevalve for the percutaneous treatment of aortic stenosis.

Dr Keith Dawkins, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Boston Scientific informed us of the development of the Element family of coronary stents designed to be deliverable, visible and with greater radial strength. We were told that the company had acquired Sadra, a company making aortic valves for percutaneous deployment through an 18F catheter. One novelty of this product is the ease with which it can be placed in position or withdrawn, even after deployment, if position is not ideal.

Dr Sandra Garcia, Marketing Manager, Cordynamic BU Marketing Manager, displayed 2 products for use in the highly thrombogenic milieu of primary PCI. The Hunter thrombectomy catheter is a 6Fr device with the largest inner lumen when compared to competitors. The Amicath is a dual lumen balloon for injecting drugs or contrast beyond an occluded vessel for visualisation distal to the occlusion and/or treating or reducing the “no reflow” phenomenon.

Mr Richard Rapoza, Divisional Vice President and General Manager, Abbott Vascular presented data on the Bioresorbable Scaffold programme. The first generation has undergone thorough evaluation in laboratory testing and the First in Man studies were completed last year in Europe. This is an exciting area and has the potential to transform the field of coronary intervention.

Mr John Shulze of Biosensors Europe, gave the gathering an insight into new technologies for application of drugs onto stent platforms without the need for a polymer coating. Future products could deliver anti restenotic drugs on the abluminal surface and antithrombotic drugs on the luminal surface.
In summary, this was a hugely informative and successful meeting for clinicians and industry.

Dr. Azfar Zaman, Cardiology Editor

Back to Listings

WhichMedicalDevice is a FREE resource created by clinicians for clinicians.

Registration is free and gives you unlimited access to all of the content and features of this website.

Find out more...

Please sign in to view this content...

I have forgotten my password
Not a Member?

Registration is free and gives you unlimited access to all of the content and features of Which Medical Device. Find out more...

Why Register

Which Medical Device is a community of clinicians sharing knowledge and experience of the devices and procedures we use on a daily basis. We ask that our members register with us so that we can maintain the unbiased and independent nature of our content. Registration is quick and free.

We do not make your details available to any third parties nor do we send unsolicited emails to our members. You can read our Privacy Policy here.