In this issue: 2 F rom the Editor The devil we don’t know: The case against private equity in medicine 7C orner Stitch Grit: The value of a growth mindset and persistence during vascular surgery training
MARCH 2024 Volume 20 Number 3
THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE
14 V enous stenting Fasting prior to venography and differences in venous stent sizing 19 Dialysis access Data show vascular external support system provides ‘boost’ www.vascularspecialistonline.com
NEW ANALYSIS POINTS TO LACK OF VASCULAR SURGICAL VOICES IN NEWS COVERAGE OF VASCULAR DISEASE
SCVS 2024
By Bryan Kay
A NEW STUDY SET TO BE aired at SCVS 2024 sheds a statistical spotlight on the state of the specialty’s reach into the mainstream consciousness. A team led by Babak Abai, MD, program director of the vascular surgery fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, performed a Google News analysis across both the medical and lay press to detect the scale of representation of vascular surgical voices in news coverage of vascular disease compared to other specialists who treat vascular pathologies. What they found, Abai told Vascular Specialist ahead of SCVS 2024, demonstrated that
Learning curve:
New data underscore physician experience levels required to derive benefit from transfemoral carotid By Bryan Kay artery stenting
See page 3
By Bryan Kay
NON-PNEUMATIC COMPRESSION DEVICE PERFORMED BETTER THAN ADVANCED PNEUMATIC COMPRESSION FOR LYMPHEDEMA By Brian McHugh
D
ata from a new study that maps out the levels at which adverse postoperative events decrease following transfemoral carotid artery stenting (TfCAS) based on depth of physician experience with the procedure represent an “absolute minimum threshold of learning,” the lead author says. The analysis comes in the wake of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) decision to expand carotid stenting coverage, which loosened restrictions on the use of TfCAS. Findings from an analysis of the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI), due to be presented at the 2024 Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery (SCVS) annual meeting (March 16–20) in Scottsdale, Arizona, will show that the number of procedures a physician had to
See page 3
A new study presented during the 2024 American Venous Forum (AVF) in Tampa, Florida (March 3–6), that compared a novel non-pneumatic compression device with an advanced pneumatic compression modality in the treatment of lower extremity lymphedema demonstrated “statistically significant disruption” in limb volume that favored the former. The multicenter, randomized, control crossover study’s primary endpoint was change in limb volume from baseline, change in quality of life, and treatment
See page 3
Vascular Specialist 9400 W. Higgins Road, Suite 315 Rosemont, IL 60018
IM
PAID
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE