Highlights of the 2004 VEITH Vascular Symposium
Highlights of the 2004 VEITH Vascular Symposium
For 31 years, surgeons have gathered in New York, NY, to attend a vascular symposium organized by Frank J. Veith, MD, cosponsored by Montefiore Medical Center along with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. This year, from November 18 to 21, more than 1500 surgeons listened intently to over 150 presentations covering the latest developments in vascular surgery. To ensure maximum transfer of information, each presentation was condensed to a few minutes with only a handful of informative slides, sometimes accompanied by short videos.
Although many presentations dealt with new techniques and new procedures, there were important discussions on organizational issues, ethical issues, new pharmacologic approaches to vascular disease, and training issues. The meeting's aim was to update vascular surgical specialists, general surgeons, health professionals, and the lay public on the current status and anticipated trends in vascular surgery.
The field of vascular surgery encompasses blood vessels to all organs except the heart and the brain. Yet, when Alik Farber, MD, Clinical Chief of Vascular Surgery, Cedars-Mount Sinai Hospital (Los Angeles, California), conducted a recent survey, he found that only about half of laypersons were aware of this simple fact. First-year medical students were equally ignorant. Even more surprising, only a quarter of the general population knew that vascular surgeons regularly treat aortic aneurysms! Clearly, patients who may require the skills provided by a vascular surgeon need additional information about this specialty.
For 31 years, surgeons have gathered in New York, NY, to attend a vascular symposium organized by Frank J. Veith, MD, cosponsored by Montefiore Medical Center along with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. This year, from November 18 to 21, more than 1500 surgeons listened intently to over 150 presentations covering the latest developments in vascular surgery. To ensure maximum transfer of information, each presentation was condensed to a few minutes with only a handful of informative slides, sometimes accompanied by short videos.
Although many presentations dealt with new techniques and new procedures, there were important discussions on organizational issues, ethical issues, new pharmacologic approaches to vascular disease, and training issues. The meeting's aim was to update vascular surgical specialists, general surgeons, health professionals, and the lay public on the current status and anticipated trends in vascular surgery.
The field of vascular surgery encompasses blood vessels to all organs except the heart and the brain. Yet, when Alik Farber, MD, Clinical Chief of Vascular Surgery, Cedars-Mount Sinai Hospital (Los Angeles, California), conducted a recent survey, he found that only about half of laypersons were aware of this simple fact. First-year medical students were equally ignorant. Even more surprising, only a quarter of the general population knew that vascular surgeons regularly treat aortic aneurysms! Clearly, patients who may require the skills provided by a vascular surgeon need additional information about this specialty.