HealthManagement, Volume 12 - Issue 2-3, 2012

The CIRSE Annual Congress is a major event in the imaging community – it is the world’s largest meeting dedicated to image- guided, minimally invasive therapies. This dynamic, trendsetting congress allows the interventional radiology (IR) community to share the latest breakthroughs in research, trials and imaging modalities, as well as gaining robust training in procedural technique and clinical management.


CIRSE 2012 will be held in Lisbon, Portugal from September 15-19. In keeping with the continually evolving nature of IR, this year’s congress will offer more Interactive Case Sessions, Workshops and Hot Topics Symposia than ever, as well as giving space to debate the specialty’s most controversial therapies.


The programme is based around seven main themes – IR management, imaging, vascular interventions, transcatheter embolisation, interventional oncology and neurointerventions – ensuring that all aspects of the specialty, from established techniques to innovative novel therapies, are covered in a comprehensive and interactive way.

Topics:

• Medico-legal aspects

• Stroke Management

• Radiation Protection

• Imaging updates

• Honorary lectures

 

Medico-Legal Aspects

In all areas of medicine, legal protection of both patient and practitioner are vital. This is especially true of innovative branches, such as IR, where new techniques and tools are integral to the specialty’s success.


While bringing a host of novel solutions, this innovative character also raises special challenges for the hospital, in terms of informing patients and obtaining consent, off-label device use and minimising complications – which is aided by CIRSE’s Patient Safety Check List, launched at last year’s annual congress.


Congress-goers can brush up their knowledge of legal protection and protocol at the Special Session Medico-legal issues and IR. Saturday, September 15 08:30, Auditorium 2

 

Stroke Management

IR has been widely incorporated into oncology and trauma teams with excellent results, and the same is true of stroke therapy. Quick and accurate imaging is essential for effective treatment, and image- guided therapies are often required to treat the clot or haemorrhage itself. In recognition of this, IRs are being increasingly included in the stroke team set-up, and a series of sessions and workshops at CIRSE 2012 enables IRs to keep abreast of latest trial results, indications and strategies.


Sessions Include:

Saturday, September 15, 10:00, Auditorium 2 Basics of acute stroke management: from diagnosis to treatment

Sunday, September 16, 08:30, Auditorium 8 Stroke management (Interactive Case Session)

Sunday, September 16, 10:00, Room 3.A Stroke prevention: where do we stand in 2012?

 

Radiation Protection

All radiological specialties must consider adequate radiation protection for patients and staff, and all team members have a role to play in ensuring excellence. To this end, CIRSE is once again collaborating with the European Federation of Radiographer Societies, and is offering a series of workshops that caters for every member of the IR team, including nurses, radiographers and radiologists.


Saturday, September 15, 10:00, Auditorium 3  Radiation protection of workers and patients in the interventional lab - AITRI guidelines

Sunday, September 16, 10:00, Auditorium 3  The role of the radiographer in the angiography department

 

Imaging Updates

Imaging is the backbone of interventional radiology, and updates on state-of-the-art technologies and imaging algorithms form an important part of every CIRSE congress. Imaging is key to every aspect of an IR’s clinical practice, from diagnosis through to image-guided treatments, all the way to comprehensive follow-up. Hands-on Workshops, Interactive Case Sessions and an extensive exhibition area allow participants to stay abreast of the newest developments.


Running as a unifying thread throughout the whole congress, most of our Special Sessions feature imaging updates, discussing patient assessment and selection, use of contrast agents and other challenges.


Additionally, CIRSE offers some dedicated imaging sessions, which provide congress-goers with in-depth information on cutting-edge technologies and applications, such as:


Wednesday, September 19, 8:30, Auditorium 6  Imaging after ablation: what you need to know

Wednesday, September 19, 10:00, Auditorium 2  Vascular imaging

 

Honorary lectures

This year’s honorary lectures are especially exciting, as they will be directly followed by the popular and controversial Hot Topics Sessions, offering a double helping of interventional food for thought. The Hot Topics Sessions address burning topics in a plenary session, with a round-table discussion in which the audience can participate.


Sunday, September 16, 14:30, Auditorium 1 Andreas Gruentzig lecture New frontiers in musculoskeletal tumour management: A. Gangi (Strasbourg/FR) Hot Topic Symposium: Vertebral augmentation

Tuesday, September 18, 13:00, Auditorium 1 Josef Roesch lecture Preclinical IR research: what it does for you: D. Pavčnik (Portland, oR/US) Hot Topic Symposium: Renal denervation

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