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Background
Innovation in Intervention:
i2 Summit 2006 at ACC.06 is a direct response
to the needs of the interventional cardiology community.
The American College of Cardiology’s highly regarded
55th Annual Scientific Session is well-established as
the world’s most-respected meeting for general
cardiology, with sessions covering the full range of
clinical, scientific, educational and practice-management
issues.
Interventional procedures have become
one of the fastest-growing areas in cardiology, due
to rapid developments in techniques, therapies and devices.
This has created a demand for a single, objective, evidence-driven
venue for interventional cardiologists, who need to
keep up with both their specialty and general cardiology.
Clinical trial results for interventional
procedures have shown greatly improved patient outcomes,
with far fewer patients needing surgery – and
have generated a highly competitive market for new devices
and therapies. Data from the ACC’s National Cardiac
Data Registry support this prediction: in 2003, 52%
of stents used were bare-metal, but by 2004 usage had
dropped to 19%. Conversely, drug-eluting stents (DES)
accounted for 23% of 2003 procedures, but surged to
63% in 2004. And techniques have kept pace: Interventional
cardiology has expanded to the entire cardiovascular
system, with new treatments revolutionizing catheter-based
delivery, including valve replacement.
With such dramatic progress in techniques
and technology, interventional cardiologists faced a
dilemma of keeping current while performing procedures.
Several special-purpose interventional cardiology meetings
provided opportunities for learning and information
exchange, but not in a centralized fashion, and not
in the context of other developments in cardiology,
regulatory issues and practice management.
The American College of Cardiology
is partnering SCAI as the prominent society partner.
Other collaborators include the organizers of Intervention
200X, VIVA, and CRT. Discussions continue with several
other organizations.
The result is Innovation in Intervention:
i2 Summit 2006 – truly a breakthrough event. i2
Summit 2006 will offer unsurpassed evidence-based content,
presented by leaders in their fields and up-and-coming
researchers and clinicians. Information will be delivered
using innovative formats – live satellite transmissions,
interactive computer-based training, and simulation
training, among others. Session topics, derived from
suggestions by 26 leading interventional cardiologists,
will range from results from late-breaking clinical
trials, to percutaneous intervention techniques, to
reimbursement and coding issues, and much more. i2 Summit
2006 will foster data-driven learning community that
will keep interventional cardiologists at the forefront
of patient care.
For more information on i2 Summit
at ACC.06, please contact Amy Guberman at (301) 897-5400,
ext. 479.
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