This time the Annual CSI Meeting was held in MMRDA Grounds, Mumbai, 22-25th November 2018. The whole event was undertaken in a pre-fabricated venue which is perhaps a first of its kind in India. In this article, Prof. Sundeep Mishra summarises the main teachings of the workshop.

The Day 1 NIC (National Interventional Council) Workshop has been a unique feature of CSI Meetings. It provides the gist of interventional cardiology both conventional and break-through technology with a particular focus on Indian Interventional Cardiology practice in a 1-day capsular form.

This year the NIC Sessions were co-ordinated by the NIC Chairman, Dr. A Sreeniivas Kumar from Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad under the guidance of the President-Elect, Professor KC Goswami. Numerous national and international faculty particularly of Indian origin participated in the NIC workshop.

Session 1: Guidewires, Balloons, & Stents

Session 1 started with discussions on the basics of cath lab hardware like guide catheters, guidewires, balloons etc. The delegates were educated about which guide-catheters should be used for which kind of interventions; both regular and anomalously arising vessels.

Guidewires

The faculty presenting guide-wire talk elucidated on:

• The manufacturing details of guide-wire and practical aspects like which guidewire to be used for which lesions
• The details of CTO (chronic total occlusion) special wires which were particularly highlighted

Balloons

The next talk on balloons elaborated on:

• The various advantages and disadvantages of compliant, semi-compliant, and non-compliant balloons
• The concept of high-pressure balloon inflations along with details of cutting balloon and lithotripsy balloons and their practical utility described in great detail 

Stents

The stent talk elaborated on various generations of stents available in the market, stressing the advantages and disadvantages of each type.

Session 2: "How to do it"

The “How to do it” session on techniques in cath lab was dealt by the masters in respective fields which delved on:

• Left Main interventions
• Bifurcation techniques
• Graft interventions

The role of intra-coronary imaging and physiology was highlighted with case examples. The CTO workshop had an unusual response where delegates clarified various queries they had in mind with experts from USA and Europe.

Learnings

1. The major learning from the Masters Session and other interactive sessions were meant to clear all doubts in day-to-day practice of an average operator.
2. The high point of the entire program was Cath Lab Complications session which was meant to discuss all the complications happening in cath, how to anticipate them and prevent them.
3. Some issues were dealt with in exquisite detail, such as perforations, slow flow, and stent thrombosis and an attempt was made to draw a useful algorithm of management in these life-threatening situations.

This session provided deep learning to all the enthusiastic beginners and even advanced practitioners and would certainly impact upon their day-to-day practice.

Finally, there was a cutting-edge technology session. The Newer Innovative Structural heart interventions like TAVR (trans-aortic catheter valve implantation), left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion procedure and septal ablation procedure in hypertrophic cardio-myopathy had excellent learning value and take-home messages for our younger colleagues in the country.

Disclaimer- The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of M3 India.

The writer, Dr. Sundeep Mishra is a Professor of Cardiology.