Course Overview.

Aim of our sessions is to present and share updated information in hot topics of coronary interventional cardiology (i.e. new generation drug-eluting stent, balloons and scaffold, unprotected left main disease, heavily calcified coronary lesions, finally coronary complications and how to manage them).

In general, each session will have a theoretical section where data coming from the recent literature will be reported and a practical section where a case-based discussion will help to define appropriate patient/lesion selection, compare and contrast different approaches to treat the same type of lesion, review interventional techniques and devices from the latest point ofview related to patient care in complex coronary intervention.

Furthermore, different challenging cases submitted by the participants will be reviewed and discussed to learn various treatment strategies.

Course Schedule and learning objectives.

Session 1 - 28 January 2019: 
New generations drug-eluting stents/balloons and bioresorbable vascular scaffolds

• Update on the new DES/DCB/BRS actually on the market
• Learn through an interactive case-based discussion the potential benefits of different DES/BRS/DCB according to specific clinical/anatomical situation

Session 2 - 28 January 2019: 
Unprotected left main PCI: from literature review to current interventional practice

• Update on the currently available data supporting PCI in this setting
• Learn through an interactive case-based discussion how to treat a wide range of ULM lesions

Session 3 - 29 January 2019: 
Tackling heavily calcified coronary lesions

• Update on the devices actually available in the box of the interventional cardiologists
• Learn through an interactive case-based discussion how to manage a wide range of heavy calcified lesions

Session 4 - 30 January 2019: 
A practical approach to the management of complications during PCI

• Overview of the complications occurring during coronary interventional practice and how to successfully deal with them

Instructors:

• Maurizio Tespili, MD, Director of Cardiology Department (CCU-CathLab- Division), Istituto Clinico Sant’Ambrogio, Gruppo San Donato, Milan, Italy
• Dr. Alfonso Ielasi, Consultant in the Clinical and Interventional Cardiology Unit, Sant'Ambrogio Cardio-Thoracic Center, Milan, Italy. 

Who should attend:

• Interventional cardiologists
• General cardiologists
• Physicians who are interested in cardiology and vascular medicine
• Radiologists
• Basic scientists
• Vascular medicine specialists
• Nurses and technologists
• Healthcare professionals with special interest in the interventional vascular therapy and medicine

Course Overview.

A crash course on TAVI: a focused training for interventional cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, cardiac imaging specialists and Cath lab personnel. The program features all the important topics spanning from patient selection to post-procedural care and patient follow up.

After discussing appropriate diagnosis of severe aortic stenosis in all its different forms (including low-flow low-gradient, paradoxical low-flow low-gradient and moderate aortic stenosis), a strong emphasis will be placed on pre-procedural planning and assessment with CT scan reconstruction and evaluation and optimal device selection for different patient specific anatomies.

All the different steps of a TAVI procedure will be discussed and presented, in a learning friendly format, with thorough discussions and clear stepwise recommendations.

The procedural steps detailed in the course will be:

• Optimal access and closure technique: percutaneous vascular access with echo and angio-guidance; pre-closure techniques with Prostar, single and double Proglides and large bore post-implant closure devices; management of vascular complications.
• Best practices for implantation of the most commonly used TAVI devices: Sapien 3, Evolut R/Pro, Acurate and Portico, including unusual anatomies and special clinical settings (low coronaries, degenerated surgical bio prosthesis valve-in-valve, horizontal aorta, LVOT calcifications).
• Off label indications: step-by-step implantation in pure aortic regurgitation, true bicuspid and pseudo-bicuspid aortic valves.
• Patient selection for alternative access strategies.
• How to identify and manage TAVI complications: prevent, evaluate and manage paravalvular leaks; minimize conduction disturbances and permanent pacemaker implantation; strategies to reduce stroke and neurological events; guide-wire management to optimize device tracking and reduce vascular trauma.

The course is held by experienced interventional cardiologists with more than 10 years' experience in TAVI and it provides all the theoretical background and practical information to start or expand an existing TAVI program.

Course topics and learning objectives.

Each topic will be analysed through:

• Discussion with the experts
• Relevant clinical cases (presentation and discussion)
• Presentation of materials and hardware
• Specific topics covered in the course will be:
  • CT scan evaluation and analysis
  • Vascular access (angio and echo guided)
  • Evolut R / Evolut PRO implantation techniques
  • Access closure devices
  • Prevention of vascular complication
  • Prevention of TAVR complication
• Specific clinical and anatomical settings:
  • Small, tortuous, diseased peripheral arteries
  • Tortuous, Porcelain aortaHorizontal aorta
  • Heavy calcifications: diffuse, aortic valve, left ventricle outflow tract
  • Pure aortic regurgitation (AR)
  • Valve in valve for degenerated surgical bio-prostheses (ViV)
  • Low ejection fraction/severe hypertrophy

Instructors:

• Dr. Francesco Bedogni, Chief of Interventional Cardiology Unit, and Vascular Radiology, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, Italy
• Federico De Marco, MD, PhD, Head of Structural Heart Disease Interventions Unit, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, Milan, Italy.
• Dr. Mauro Agnifili, Cardiologo, Interventional Cardiology Unit, and Vascular Radiology, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, Milan, Italy.

Who should attend:

• Interventional cardiologists
• Clinical cardiologist
• Cardiac surgeon
• Cardiac imaging specialists
• Cath lab personnel