May 25, 2009 -- This week marks one of the first courses to focus exclusively on the range of innovative intravascular imaging and measurement technologies that have been gaining in use over the past couple of years. "OCT, IVUS, FFR: When, Where, How" will be held on May 28 and 29 in Bergamo, Italy.

The course will utilize the newest innovations in Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS), Virtual Histology (VH) and Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) and how they can be used to optimize percutaneous procedures, such as angioplasty and stenting.

The Course Director is Dr. Giulio Guagliumi of Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo who was the principal investigator for the ODESSA Trial, the first clinical study of stent strut coverage as seen and measured via OCT. Dr. Guagliumi has been one of the pioneering cardiologists in OCT technology and he told Angioplasty.Org that the time had come for a course solely on intravascular imaging modalities. He explained that this interactive course will attempt to define if , when, how and where to use IVUS, VH, OCT and FFR in daily interventional practice, with particular emphasis on what the evolution in current technology will allow cardiologists to do in the near future.

Strategies in complex coronary lesions, atherosclerotic plaque assessment, detection and measurement of stent strut apposition and coverage, thrombus identification and tissue type characterization will all be addressed. The course will include live interactive cases, flash debates followed by voting and carefully selected lectures from internationally recognized experts, as well as multimedia links with the U.S.