VIVA Physicians' Vascular Leaders Forum on Drug-Eluting Devices in PAD Scheduled

December 19, 2018—VIVA Physicians announced details for a special session of its Vascular Leaders Forum. The goal of the forum is to analyze a recent meta-analysis that associates drug-eluting technologies with increased long-term mortality, with an eye toward developing consensus among physicians, regulatory agencies, and industry.

VIVA Physicians, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to peripheral artery disease (PAD) education and research, will host "Drug Elution in PAD: A Critical Analysis from a Multispecialty Consortium." The event will be held February 28–March 1, 2019, at the Kimpton Hotel Palomar, 2121 P Street NW, Washington, DC.

The 1.5-day consortium will bring together an international coalition of leading clinicians, including representatives from major medical societies and the medical device industry, United States regulatory agencies, and patient advocacy groups.

"We take our patients' safety and outcomes very seriously, and this meta-analysis has raised an important issue to address," said Gary Ansel, MD, in comments to Endovascular Today. Dr. Ansel is the System Medical Chief for Vascular Services for OhioHealth and Associate Medical Director for OhioHealth Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio. "We hope this forum will allow the community at large to start to address this question in a thoughtful and scientifically rigorous fashion."

The forum, funded solely by VIVA Physicians, will bring a comprehensive, balanced, and focused attention to historical and current safety and efficacy data; a regulatory perspective on the meta-analysis; and a discussion of how clinicians and trialists should react to these findings. The discussion is intended to go beyond the meta-analysis, with a goal of optimizing data evaluations as well as future trials and testing of devices, noted Dr. Ansel. More than 30 presentations are planned, as well as extensive time for open discussion. It is also anticipated that patient-level data and any new publications will be discussed in detail.

More information about VIVA Physicians is available online at www.vivaphysicians.org. Questions specific to the Vascular Leaders Forum can be addressed to press@vivaphysicians.org.