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Featured Article
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Vascular Disease Management - ISSN: 1553-8036 - Volume 1 - Issue 2 - December 2004 | |
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| VDM editorial board members share their thoughts |
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| Frank J. Criado, Editor-in-Chief |
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| Philip A. Morales, MD, Romas J. Kirvaitis, MD, Richard R. Heuser, MD |
Background: Although procedural success rates for treating chronic occlusions are relatively high, dissections and perforations often require stenting.
Methods: A fiberoptic guidance system that visualizes lesion characteristics and incorporates a radiofrequency energy source to aid in crossing total occlusions was used in three men and one woman with superficial femoral artery lesions that were 8–50 cm long and 5–144 months old.
Results: Five lesions were attempted and successfully crossed, and there were no observed dissections or perforations. Ankle-brachial indexes returned to normal in two of the four patients. The guidance system was useful in visualizing and treating chronic total femoral occlusions.
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Director, Cardiac Catherization Laboratory, El Camino Hospital; Director of Peripheral Vascular Interventions, The Cardiovascular Institute; Mountain View, CA
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Recognizing Expertise: Obtaining Certification by the American Board of Vascular Medicine |
| An interview with Michael R. Jaff, DO, Board of Directors, American Board of Vascular Medicine; Medical Director, Vascular Diagnostic Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts |
The recently founded American Board of Vascular Medicine (ABVM) is an independent organization offering board certification in vascular and endovascular medicine. The board’s first set of exams will be offered in September 2005. Dr. Michael Jaff, member of the ABVM board of directors, discusses the benefits of board certification for the variety of physicians involved in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with non-coronary vascular disease.
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