TCT Surgeons Course Highlights Role of Hybrid Suites

July 8, 2010 – The annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) event has traditionally been a symposium for interventional cardiologists. However, as an increasing number of hybrid intervention/minimally invasive surgical procedures bring surgeons into the arena of cath lab techniques, TCT started a course for surgeons who specialize in hybrid procedures. Now in its fourth year, the course will run during TCT, Sept. 21-25, 2010, in Washington, D.C.

“This meeting will drive forward the growing collaboration among interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons in the treatment of patients with structural and coronary artery disease,” said Mathew Williams, M.D., course director, and surgical director, Cardiovascular Transcatheter Therapies at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. “The surgeon brings tremendous knowledge, a valuable skill set and a unique perspective to the interventional environment and the cross-trained surgeon is positioned ideally to make the most informed and unbiased treatment decision for patients with coronary and endovascular disease.”

One of the course highlights is an overview of hybrid coronary therapy, which involves a combination of traditional surgery along with the placement of coronary stents in patients with coronary artery disease. The chosen therapy, whether it is angioplasty, surgery or a combination of the two, should be determined specifically for an individual patient, Williams said.

The course also includes sessions on valvular heart disease, minimally invasive surgery, new surgical technologies, abdominal aortic endografting, aortic aneurismal disease overview and thoracic aortic endografting.

For more information: www.tctconference.com