In this issue: 2 F rom the Editor BEST-CLI vs. BASIL-2: Different questions yield different answers
JUNE 2023 Volume 19 Number 06
THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE
BASIL-2 AND BEST-CLI: A TALE OF TWO LIMB TRIALS
5C omment & Analysis This month’s Corner Stitch tackles the trainee return to the OR
11 T he Big Interview Frank J. Veith, MD, goes in-depth about his book ahead of inaugural lecture 12 AI Bias and the silver bullet: Gender and machine learning in AAAs www.vascularspecialistonline.com
VAM 2023 PREVIEW SPECIAL
By Michael S. Conte, MD OPTIMAL TREATMENT OF patients with chronic limbthreatening ischemia (CLTI) has been an ongoing debate within the vascular community, fueled by growing numbers of patients, evolving technologies, provider bias, and a lack of highquality evidence. Few randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have focused on this patient population. Now, within a sixmonth period, the primary results of the long-awaited BEST-CLI and BASIL-2 RCTs have been reported. At the top level, their results seem wholly discordant with respect to limb-based versus survival outcomes. A deeper dive into the designs of these two trials, their
VASCULAR SURGERY MOVES TO ASSESS TRAINEES’ COMPETENCE WITH EPAs By Beth Bales
FOR SURGEONS, “EPA” MEANS not the “Environmental Protection Agency” but “Entrustable Professional Activity”—and they’re going to change surgery training. A pilot rollout for vascular surgeons will begin in select centers in the fall with Vascular Surgery Board
Our annual gathering is almost here. After months of planning, our premiere educational event in vascular surgery, the Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM), opens June 14. Every president before me has said nothing can top this year’s event—and yet, somehow, year after year, we do. This year is no exception, writes SVS President Michael C. Dalsing, MD.
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VAM 2023 BECKONS
Vascular Specialist 9400 W. Higgins Road, Suite 315 Rosemont, IL 60018
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VAM 2023 IS FINALLY HERE. MONTHS OF PLANNING AND HARD work are almost complete. The Program Committee, headed by Andres Schanzer, MD, and the Postgraduate Education Committee, with Will Robinson, MD, at the helm, have put in countless hours selecting top-notch abstracts and developing clinical and non-clinical educational sessions for your knowledge and inspiration. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) topics are incorporated into each session to highlight discussion within the very fabric of the meeting. From talking with both Schanzer and Robinson, I know that each and every attendee will be able to leave VAM with information they can use immediately in their practices and/or careers. It could take the form of research results, how-tos on performing particular procedures, thoughts on the road to retirement or practice management tips and tricks. We once again have sessions for a variety of career stages and interests. Each SVS membership section and subsection—physician assistants, women, young surgeons, those in community practice and those operating in an office-based lab—is hosting sessions of particular interest to the section members. Plus: ◆ Special sessions aimed at international members ◆ Our always-interesting E. Stanley Crawford Critical Issues Forum, this year on the vascular surgery workforce pipeline ◆ A session on transitioning to retirement ◆ Maximizing various facets of vascular care in attendees’ practices ◆ Events for medical students and residents ◆ The inaugural Frank J. Veith Distinguished Lecture, named for our former president, and to focus on limb salvage ◆ A special session on the results of two landmark clinical trials: BESTCLI (Best endovascular versus best surgical therapy in patients with critical limb ischemia) and BASIL-2 (Bypass versus angioplasty in severe ischemia of the leg)
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