March 15, 2008 -- New York -- Dr. John T. Coppola, Chairman of Cardiology at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, will be presenting his annual one-day course for cardiologists and related healthcare professionals, titled, "Complex Interventions via the Transradial Route", on April 2, 2008. The course is free of charge.

The transradial angioplasty technique, where catheters are introduced through the wrist artery, is used widely in Europe, India and Japan, but has not been utilized much in the United States, even though many of the complications seen in the femoral (leg/groin) catheter access approach are significantly lower.

Part of the reason why the radial procedure is not used as much in the U.S. has to do with the training process for cardiologists. According to Dr. Kirk Garratt of the Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute of New York, "Despite the benefits of transradial access, most fellowship training programs continue to train clinical and interventional cardiologists using a transfemoral technique. That perpetuates the practice."

Live demonstration courses, such as this annual program at St. Vincent's and the ones given by Lenox Hill, are part of an educational process which involves reading the literature, practicing on a simulator, and working side-by-side with a cardiologist who is expert in the technique.

To assist in this effort, Angioplasty.Org recently created the "Radial Access Center for Transradial Approach", a special section devoted to information and news about the transradial technique, for both patients and physicians. The Radial Center features interviews with leading practitioners of the radial technique, such as Drs. Jeffrey Popma, R. Lee Jobe, John Coppola, Kirk Garratt and Howard Cohen.

For patients there is also a "Hospital Locator" that lists U.S. centers practicing radial angiography. As Dr. Howard Cohen, also of Lenox Hill Hospital, says of the wrist technique, "Patients really prefer it. 95% of people who've had it both ways would say 'I'm coming back to you, Dr. Cohen because I like this transradial a lot better than the other way!'"

Dr. Coppola in the Cath Lab

Dr. Coppola has invited two of the world's experts in the radial technique to join him at St. Vincent's: Dr. Shigeru Saito, President of the International Transradial Network and Director, Cardiology and Catheterization Laboratories, Shonan Kamakura General Hospital, Japan, and Dr. Tejas Patel, Director, Interventional Cardiology, Ahmedabad, India with a case experience of over 20,000 transradial procedures and author of what is considered by most to be the "bible" of radial technique, the "Atlas of Transradial Intervention".

You can register for this course online at Angioplasty.Org.

The course is being held on Wednesday, April 2, 2008, from 8:30am to 2:30pm at:

St. Vincent's Hospital -- Manhattan
Spellman 3
170 West 12th Street
New York, NY 10011

There is no charge for the program. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. The course receives support from Terumo Interventional Systems and Boston Scientific Corporation.

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