Paris, France. 21 May 2021. Since 1989, EuroPCR has constantly pioneered innovative educational tools and formats to help the interventional cardiovascular community effectively share their knowledge, skills and practice. Rising up to the challenge of the pandemic, the 31st annual edition was fundamentally rethought, reshaped and rebuilt in order to continue to meet high educational needs and expectations. One of the key priorities was to ensure a prime learning experience through maximum real-time exchange and interactivity.
The EuroPCR 2021 purpose-built digital platform brought together 8,091 physicians and health care professionals (+ 25% vs 2019) from over 126 different countries during the 3-day livestreamed Programme. Participants joined from 10 PCR Hubs, 13 Local Pods or from their homes, offices or cathlabs all over the world. Among them, a considerable number would not have been able to travel to Paris to join the customary 'in-person' edition of the Course. In addition, 1,350 industry partner representatives participated in the Course.
An innovative format in three stages, for both global and local outreach
Before the Course
In the run-up to the Course itself, EuroPCR shared several pre-Course releases. Episodes were tailored for EAPCI/PCR Fellows and those interested in clinical research and in initiating a peripheral Programme. Selected series of clinical cases, scientific abstracts and remarkable images from the Call for Submissions were also made available and discussed in advance ...
A 3-day livestreamed Programme accredited by EBAC for 18 External CME credits
4 channels broadcast live for 100+ hours from 5 worldwide TV Studios, incorporating up to 50% real-time discussions to stimulate engagement and effective learning. Faculty joined online from 10 PCR Hubs around the globe, and online participants posted over 4,000 questions and comments in the live chats. Participants could also join small-group practical Training Workshops and access more than 700 additional Videos on Demand. According to the sanitary situation in each world region, some were able to organise a Local Pod in which to join the Course in the company of a limited number of peers. Over the 3 days, the hashtag #EuroPCR appeared in over 41 million posts on social media.
3-months access post-Course
Participants can continue to access the tailor-made Course platform until August 27th to watch all of the content on replay, including the footage of the livestreamed Programme. In June, three live follow-up #AskMeAnything sessions will address questions pending from the Course on the topics of coronary interventions, TAVI, and hypertension.
Late-breaking trials
67 late-breaking trials, hotlines and registries were released by the principal investigators during EuroPCR 2021, of which 5 were presented during the livestream by their authors before being analysed by the PCR Clinical Research team, in terms of methodology, results and clinical impact:
* Complete 2-year follow-up from the Evolut low risk trial - presented by John Forrest
* Meta-analysis of elective coronary revascularisation vs. medical therapy alone - presented by Eliano Navarese
* EBC MAIN - the European Bifurcation Club left main coronary bifurcation study - presented by David Hildick-Smith
* A randomised trial of thinner-strut sirolimus-eluting BRS in de novo lesions: one-year results from the FUTURE-II trial - presented by Bo Xu
* A randomised study comparing imaging-guided implantation of Orsiro and Xience - CASTLE study - presented by Masato Nakamura
Many other studies raised considerable interest, only to name contributions from Jurrien M. Ten berg on a novel glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor, Pieter Smits on complete revascularization for NSTEMI, Raj Makkar on TAVI outcomes for bicuspid aortic stenosis, and so many more we cannot possibly list them all.
A continuum of education on key topics in interventional cardiology
The 3-day livestreamed Programme was conceived and built "by and for" the community with the active participation of 1,100+ faculty, and selections among a total of over 1,300 submissions. This edition's highlights included:
* Management and reduction of radiation exposure
* A focus on renal denervation and hypertension
* Treatment of patients with multivessel disease and chronic coronary syndromes
* Simulation-based learning on the management of rare complications such as stent loss and coronary perforation; bifurcation PCI using T and TAP technique or DK crush PCI; clinical applications of IVUS, OCT and other intracoronary imaging techniques; tricuspid leaflet repair; multi-modality imaging for transcatheter valve interventions with chamber views and S-curves.
* PCR's Got Talent - scientific abstract competition comprising rounds of video recordings and professional coaching on oral presentation for selected submitters. Farhang Aminfar from the CHUV Lausanne, Switzerland received first prize for his "POT Puff" study.
Presentation of EuroIntervention's papers with the most impact on citations in 2020
* Validation of the Academic Research Consortium for High Bleeding Risk (ARC-HBR) criteria in patients undergoing PCI and comparison with contemporary bleeding risk scores. By Yasushi Ueki et al.
* Validation of 3-dimensional quantitative coronary angiography-based software to calculate FFR: the FAST study. By Kaneshka Masdjedi et al.
* Diagnostic performance of intracoronary OCT-based vs. angiography-based FFR for the evaluation of coronary lesions. By Jiayue Huang et al.
EuroIntervention also published a number of trials during EuroPCR, including:
* A novel rapid glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor (RUC-4) for STEMI patients - Presenter: Jurrien M. Ten berg EuroIntervention: DOI = 10.4244/EIJ-D-21-00287 Pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and tolerability of subcutaneous administration of a novel glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor, RUC-4, in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction Corresponding author: Kailiang Zheng
* 30-day outcomes for transcatheter tricuspid repair from the TriBAND study - Presenter: Georg Nickenig EuroIntervention: DOI = 10.4244/EIJ-D-21-00300
$200,000 USD (160,000€) grant for innovation in cardiovascular medicine
After selecting among presentations shortlisted from the Course's Call for Innovations, the Jon DeHaan Foundation attributed two awards amounting to $200,000 USD for the following innovative developments:
* 1st prize: Wearable device for continuous, non-invasive monitoring of potassium imbalance, by David Kuraguntla and the Alio start-up company.
* 2nd prize: Heart failure management with the world's first in-heart microcomputer, by Domenico D'Amario and Vectorious Medical Technologies.
Andreas Grüntzig Ethica Award
A dedicated ceremony paid a moving tribute to Interventional Cardiologist Marie-Claude Morice, as she received the prestigious Andreas Grüntzig Ethica Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to patient well-being through training, education and clinical research in interventional cardiovascular medicine.
Dates to remember
Africa PCR - 10-11 September 2021
PCR Tokyo Valves - 25-26 September 2021
AICT-AsiaPCR - 7-9 October 2021
PCR London Valves - 21-23 November 2021
GulfPCR-GIM - 15-16 December 2021
EuroPCR - 17-20 May 2022
PCR-CIT China Chengdu Valves - dates to be confirmed
NOTES TO EDITORS
About EuroPCR 2021
The World-Leading Course in interventional cardiovascular medicine and the official annual meeting of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI) took place from 18 to 20 May 2021. The detailed Course Programme is available here.
About PCR
The mission of PCR is to serve the needs of each individual patient by helping the cardiovascular community to share knowledge, experience and practice. PCR offers a large range of educational meetings and resources for the continuing education of the interventional cardiovascular community. These include major annual Courses across the globe, e-learning with high-profile PCR Webinars, Courses specifically dedicated to valvular heart disease, tailor-made PCR Seminars on specific topics, online resources and medical publications such as EuroIntervention, the official journal of the EAPCI.
Gateways to all PCR activities are available on http://www.pcronline.com
For further information, please contact Célia Vilà: cvila@europa-group.com
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