Vascular calcification affects the vascular health of millions of patients. No current therapies exist to prevent or reverse it, and the problem has confounded researchers and physicians for decades.

The development of innovative treatment strategies requires both a better fundamental understanding of the problem and collaboration between vascular surgeons and vascular biologists/biomedical engineers. This year’s Vascular Research Initiatives Conference (VRIC) will bring these audiences together and provide insight from key investigators in this field. V

The early response has been “spectacular.” That’s as in “Vascular Spectacular,” the gala that will be a central festivity of the 2019 Vascular Annual Meeting.

The glitzy, fun-filled evening will include live and silent auctions, cocktails and dinner, headliner entertainment and dancing to a DJ. All proceeds benefit the work of the SVS Foundation.

With treatment, prognosis would be excellent, vascular surgeons say

The following statement has been issued by the SVS:

ROSEMONT, Ill., March 6, 2019 – The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), the premier scientific organization devoted to the treatment of vascular disease, is concerned about a recent article in the Journal of the American Heart Association suggesting higher rates of two- and five-year mortality in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) treated with paclitaxel delivering devices.

SVS members can now use the Quality Payment Program (QPP) Participation Status Tool to check your preliminary eligibility status for the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) 2019 performance period. The QPP Participation Status Tool currently shows preliminary 2019 eligibility status based on data from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.  Later this year, CMS will update the tool to reflect final 2019 MIPS eligibility status based on data from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. 

The 2018 data submission period is open for Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligible clinicians who participated in the 2018 Quality Payment Program (QPP). Please note that your data must be submitted before the submission period closes on April 2, 2019.

The following two exceptions for data submission should be noted:

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF FATAL RUPTURED AORTIC ANEURYSMS IN THE UNITED STATES (1999-2016). Journal of Vascular Surgery, February 2019.

CHICAGO, Illinois, Feb. 11, 2019 – Even though the number of deaths due to ruptured aortic aneurysms has decreased 68 percent in recent years, a significant number of deaths from ruptured aortic aneurysms occur in patients whose demographics exclude them from screening guidelines, according to a newly published study in the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

By the end of this month, the Society for Vascular Surgery will be working out of its new headquarters in Rosemont, Ill., just minutes from O’Hare International Airport.

The SVS Foundation and the SVS Patient Safety Organization share SVS’ workspace. The Society also provides management services for the Association of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery, the Society for Vascular Nursing and the Delaware Vascular Society.

From JVS: Researchers believe metformin, a commonly used prescribed oral hypoglycemic agent, may limit enlargement of abdominal aortic aneurysms, after analyzing patients of diabetic patients who are being treated in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The findings, outlined in an opensource article in the March Journal of Vascular Surgery, support holding clinical trials to test the drug’s effectiveness in limiting progression of early AAA disease. Read more through April 30 at vsweb.org/JVS-Metformin.

Apply by March 1 for SVS, SVS Foundation Awards

SVS is accepting nominations and applications through March 1 for its three highest honors, to be recognized at the 2019 Vascular Annual Meeting in June.

The SVS Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual’s outstanding and sustained contributions to the profession and SVS as well as exemplary professional practice and leadership.

The SVS Medal for Innovation in Vascular Surgery honors individuals whose contributions have transformed the practice or science of vascular surgery.