EAPCI Focus on GACI, the French Coronary Atheroma and Interventional Cardiology Group

NEWS

■The 2014 edition of the EAPCI Fellows Course took place on 11 and 12 July at the European Heart House, featuring updates on the latest standards of PCI. 98 participants from 30 countries including the 2014 EAPCI Grant Winners attended. Slides and webcasts will be made available soon to EAPCI members. Join EAPCI today to benefit from this restricted access.

■Attending ESC Congress 2014 in Barcelona from 30 August to 3 September? Be sure to come to the ESC Plaza and find out more about our offers.

■The EAPCI congratulates Marc Hartmann, MD, PhD, for being the first to receive his certificate of excellence in training in interventional cardiology using the innovative ESC eLearning platform.

■Find out who is who on the new EAPCI Board on our website.

EAPCI Focus on GACI, the French Coronary Atheroma and Interventional Cardiology Group

An interview with the President, René Koning

What does the EAPCI membership mean for a national society?

GACI is growing and dynamic; however, there are still many areas where we can improve our position, and one of them is to have a stronger presence within EAPCI. For us, the EAPCI is very important: we see the value of the many EAPCI educational tools and in particular the EAPCI fellowship programmes, as good training programmes are very important for the further development of our profession. The French interventional fellows are placed in both the public and the private sectors, and we also try to help with fellowships abroad, predominantly in Europe but also in the United States.

What are the current issues related to the national society?

From an historical perspective, many of the pioneers and innovators in interventional medicine have been past presidents of GACI: Jean Marco, Marie-Claude Morice, Alain Cribier and of course Jacques Puel. Our group is quite large, with almost 900 members, and is unique as half of the group works in the private sector while the other half works in the public sector. This is also reflected in the presidency of GACI, with rotating presidents from each sector. To be honest, there is no real difference between the two groups, as all members are interested in scientific research and new technologies.

From a scientific point of view, GACI has always been involved in the early adoption of new technologies. Even today, this is very apparent when one considers the advances in TAVI, OCT, CTO, FFR and bioresorbable scaffolds. GACI has helped to create a national registry called FRANCE ABSORB. We are also moving beyond therapeutic interventional aspects in our practice by addressing the components of atherosclerotic disease (anatomical, biological and functional aspects). Similarly, the development of peripheral angioplasty as practised by interventionalists is another topic of great interest.

Happily, our subspecialty is recognised by the Ministry of Health. We also play an important role in discussions with the Ministry on all aspects of interventional cardiology. This is one of the critical reasons why data from our national registries will help refine our practice as well as improving the quality of our care.