Pacific Vascular Summit

MAPPING THE FUTURE OF VENOUS DISEASE

A meeting of experts was planned to establish the most important guidelines for the future direction of research and development in the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic venous disease for the next ten years. Dr. Robert Kistner suggested that this meeting be organized as a combined effort of the AVF and the 5th Pacific Vascular Symposium on Venous Disease (PVS).

The final project became "Mapping the Future of Venous Disease - an International Summit" and took place at the Mauna Lani Bay hotel on the Big Island, Hawaii, January 20-24, 2006. Sixty experts representing Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America were invited "to propel the field into a new orbit by postulating the priorities for research and development for the next ten years." There were representatives from angiology, the basic sciences, clinical physiology, dermatology, epidemiology, industry, interventional radiology, thrombosis/hemostasis and vascular surgery. Twelve of the experts came from industry with various areas of expertise such as in the fields of artificial valves and stents, compression therapy, obliteration of veins using laser or radio frequency, pharmacologic and mechanical thrombus removal, venotonic drugs and wound care. There was one representative for the NIH. Prior to the meeting, 32 of the experts produced up-to-date reports on the present knowledge of acute and chronic venous disease. A summary of these reports were delivered to all the participants as a preamble to the "meat of the meeting." Four working groups were then formed as initial think tanks in the following areas: hemodynamics/diagnostics, acute venous disease, primary chronic venous disease (CVD) and secondary CVD. Professional facilitators lead the participants through a process called "appreciative inquiry" and discussion to the point of final project formulation. Each group presented more than 20 projects they found important to a rapid advancement in the understanding of venous disease and its management. Of these more than 80 initial projects, 21 projects were considered to hold the most promise of pushing the venous field forward in the immediate future. The AVF created the IMUA committee (IMUA is Hawaiian for "moving forward") to refine and focus the project even further with the end result that fourteen projects have stood the test of a rigorous inspection. Twelve investigative and 2 organizational projects, each with a volunteer coordinator, are now actively being shaped into viable projects with goals, aims and timelines for completion, they are:

MR Outflow Obstruction of Venous Disease
Volunteer P. I. - Mark Meissner, MD

Joint Venous Council
Robert Kistner, MD

Duplex Ultrasound in Diagnosis and Prognosis of DVT
Volunteer P.I. - Mark Meissner, MD

Early Clot Removal
Volunteer P.I. - Tony Comerota, MD

Biomarkers in Diagnosis and Prognosis of DVT
Volunteer P.I.'s - Tom Wakefield, MD

Tony Comerota, MD

AVF: A Broad-Based Organization
Michael Dalsing, MD

Core-Lab Consortium and Genetic Database
Volunteer P. I. - Peter Pappas, MD

Evaluation and Standardization of Venous Testing
Volunteer P. I. - Fedor Lurie, MD

Assessment of Reflux and Its Relation to Progress of CVD
Volunteer P. I. - Joann Lohr, MD

IVC Filter in Trauma Patients
Volunteer P. I. - David Gillespie, MD

Improvement of Existing Endovenous Valve and Venoscopic Valve Repair
Volunteer P. I. - Seshadri Raju, MD

Pathophysiology in Chronic Venous Disease
Volunteer P. I. - Joseph Raffetto, MD

External Compression Device
Volunteer P. I. - Joseph Caprini, M.D.

Development of Dedicated Venous Stent
Volunteer P. I. - Peter Neglen, MD

The IMUA mission statement is "To promote venous health through innovative research, education and technology." The role of the IMUA committee is to: produce a supplement to the Journal of Vascular Surgery containing the 32 updates and the proceedings from the Hawaii Venous Summit; and to support and encourage completion of the projects it has birthed. The goal is ambitious and certainly not exclusive. We invite all interested members to contact any of the project volunteer PI's mentioned above for more details on how they can take an active part in the project. The more minds focused on the project, the more likely the outcome will surpass what was contemplated.