SCAI Publishes Structural Heart Disease Core Curriculum and Survey Results

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) today published a first-of-its-kind core curriculum consensus document for the treatment of structural heart disease. An introduction to SCAI's Structural Heart Disease Council, structural heart disease core curriculum, and results of a survey of physicians and training directors on structural heart disease procedures were published simultaneously today in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions and JACC Cardiovascular Interventions.

The structural heart disease core curriculum, endorsed by the American College of Cardiology Foundation and written by interventional specialists from multiple regions, defines training and credentialing requirements along with program standards for practitioners who perform interventional structural heart disease procedures. The evolution of interventional treatments for structural and congenital heart disease has occurred rapidly during the past 10 years, and interventional therapies are increasingly helping patients who previously had to undergo open-heart surgery, or who could not be treated at all. With such rapid advancement, SCAI identified a need – confirmed by the survey results – for uniformity across structural heart disease training programs as well as specific credentials and standards for practitioners who treat structural heart disease with interventional techniques. Currently, a lack of comprehensive training programs prohibits many practitioners from treating structural heart disease, according to the SCAI survey of 107 U.S.-based interventional cardiologists.

"The primary goal of the core curriculum is to provide patients with the highest level of care and treatment available," said Carlos Ruiz, M.D., Ph.D., FSCAI, professor of pediatrics and medicine and director of the Division of Congenital and Structural Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute of New York, and lead author of the core curriculum. "The core curriculum will serve training centers and practitioners dedicated to growing their knowledge and skill base for structural heart disease interventions and provide a forum to discuss the latest treatment advancements for structural heart disease to advance and improve patient care."

The core curriculum outlines specific training recommendations and skill requirements for certification as a structural heart disease practitioner, including:

• Superb basic catheterization skills with the ability to achieve unusual types of vascular access and manipulate various catheters, balloons and other devices
• The ability to competently handle potential complications resulting from interventional treatment
• A knowledge base and interventional skills for a variety of complex structural heart diseases, including appropriate device selection, imaging needs, stenting techniques, managing complications and acute and long-term post-procedural care

"As structural heart disease procedures advance and become increasingly common, it is essential that practitioners acquire the right set of skills and knowledge base," said SCAI Past President Ted Feldman, M.D., FSCAI, director of cardiac catheterization at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare in Evanston, IL, and chair of the Structural Heart Disease Council. "Patient care will benefit from those who acquire the skills and training outlined in the core curriculum document."  

Additionally, specific guidelines for adequate structural heart disease training centers include:

• A structural heart center composed of integrated and dedicated faculty members from various specialties, including anesthesiology, pediatrics, surgery and radiology, among others
• Staff and faculty dedicated to mentorship
• Sufficient patient volume with a variety of patient case levels
• Hybrid procedure rooms, sophisticated imaging equipment and simulation technology
• Formal didactic sessions, ongoing mentorship opportunities, weekly medical-surgical structural heart disease conferences, inpatient and outpatient consultation services and clinical follow-up

"SCAI is dedicated to advancing the treatment of structural heart disease and providing our patients with the best treatments and technologies available to treat their disease," said SCAI Past President Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., M.P.H., FSCAI, director of Congenital and Structural Heart Disease, Rush University Medical Center, co-author of the core curriculum, and chair of the Structural Heart Disease Council. "It was critical for SCAI to take the lead to define this core set of program and credentialing standards for practitioners as a way to ultimately provide better and more standardized care to our patients."

Moving forward, SCAI's Structural Heart Disease Council will work to increase awareness of structural heart disease therapies as treatment options while advocating for patients' improved access to interventional therapies. The Council also hopes to increase the opportunities for mentorship and career advancement in structural heart disease–related fields, and partner with organizations that promote the use of interventional structural heart disease therapies.

To view the full survey results, please visit www.SCAI.org.  

About SCAI

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions is a 4,000-member professional organization representing invasive and interventional cardiologists in approximately 70 nations. SCAI's mission is to promote excellence in invasive and interventional cardiovascular medicine through physician education and representation, and advancement of quality standards to enhance patient care. SCAI's annual meeting has become the leading venue for education, discussion, and debate about the latest developments in this dynamic medical specialty. SCAI's patient and physician education program, Seconds Count, offers comprehensive information about cardiovascular disease. For more information about SCAI and Seconds Count, visit www.scai.org or www.seconds-count.org.

SOURCE Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions