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New Science, New Learning at TCT 2016
The meeting offers cutting-edge research, multiple networking opportunities and year-round education.
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The Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference, being held Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 in Washington, D.C., will bring together many of the world’s leading experts in interventional cardiology for an intensive session of the most innovative science and the most comprehensive learning opportunities.
The meeting will feature 11 Late-Breaking Clinical Trials and 16 First Report Investigations, as well as a plethora of live cases, debates and other educational sessions.
“The soul of TCT is all the clinical live cases, techniques and experiences that will be shared between the participants,” Gregg W. Stone, MD, professor of medicine at Columbia University, director of cardiovascular research and education at the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, told Cardiology Today’s Intervention. Stone is co-director of medical research and education at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation and director of TCT. “I’m hoping that [attendees] walk away inspired, motivated and reinvigorated; that they will see not only the future of interventional cardiology but that we’re making real, major headways with the treatment of patients today.”
Late-Breaking Trials
The Late-Breaking Clinical Trials at TCT will feature some of the year’s most important studies of interventional cardiology.
Stone said the most impactful might be EXCEL and NOBLE, both of which compare drug-eluting stents with CABG in patients with left main CAD.
“Altogether, these two trials have randomized more than 3,100 patients with left main disease to either PCI with contemporary DES or surgery,” Stone, who will present the EXCEL results, said. “We anticipate that these two studies will have a major impact on the treatment of some of our highest-risk patients with coronary disease: those with left main disease.”
Other research that has potential to change clinical practice includes SENTINEL, in which patients undergoing TAVR were randomly assigned to receive a neuroprotection device to prevent periprocedural neurological complications or standard care, and two studies from the PARTNER clinical trial program for a family of balloon-expandable TAVR valves (Sapien, Edwards Lifesciences), one assessing hemodynamic and echocardiographic valve function after TAVR and one assessing quality-of-life and cost-effectiveness parameters in intermediate-risk patients after TAVR (read more about TAVR in intermediate-risk patients in the Cover Story).
Attendees will also leave this year’s meeting with added insight into percutaneous left atrial appendage closure. Stone noted that one Late-Breaking Clinical Trial is the first real-world post-approval study of the only device approved for the indication in the United States (Watchman, Boston Scientific), and another will have data from a European registry of a different LAA closure device (Amulet, St. Jude Medical).
Variety of Sessions
While PCI and TAVR studies may grab most of the headlines, the sum experience of TCT is far greater than that. If you can conceive of a topic that is relevant to the practice of interventional cardiology, there is probably a session for it at TCT, according to Stone.
“[Attendees] are going to appreciate the breadth of interventional cardiology, treatment of coronary disease and valvular disease, and the progress that is being made with mitral valve therapies in addition to aortic valve therapies,” Stone said. “They will also learn about the new right-heart interventions including pulmonic and tricuspid valve interventions, and benefit from renewed interest in structural heart disease, with new data on renal intervention and other approaches to hypertension, in addition to LAA closure.”
A Year-Round Experience
The benefits of TCT will not stop once everyone has left the meeting. New for this year is TCT 360, a platform that will enable insights from the conference to be shared all year.
“We’ve been working on how to present all the content at TCT,” Stone said. “There are so many overlapping sessions, it’s very hard for people to see all the content. We will be taping approximately one-quarter of new content at TCT that will not be available to the audience at the time, but will be released within several weeks of the meeting exclusive to TCT attendees. Then all of the TCT content will be archived in a new way, which will be like walking into a meeting room and seeing the entire sessions, the presenters, the discussions and the talks in a very user-friendly and attractive way, which should enhance the educational content. We’re very excited about this. There’s a lot of energy and excitement that’s gone into the year-round educational content delivery.”
Disclosure: Stone reports no relevant financial disclosures.