EAPCI Membership: why you should join!

EAPCI Membership: why you should join!

A wealth of opportunities with the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions

Dr Francesco Costa (Italy) has been an EAPCI member since 2013. He is currently in training at the Hospital Clinic i Provincial in Barcelona thanks to an education and training grant from EAPCI. This is his story.

You’ve been in training since September 2017. Which interventional cardiology techniques are you focusing on?

I’m training in coronary intervention with a special focus on complex higher-risk intervention, such as the treatment of higher-risk patients with coronary bifurcations, left main, calcified lesions requiring rotational atherectomy, and chronic total occlusions. Last year I received an EAPCI grant which has been a huge boost to my training.

How is this supporting your career development?

Training in an excellence centre like Hospital Clinic is a great opportunity for two reasons: working with key opinion leaders and top educators in the field, while being exposed to cutting edge technology and research, and collaborating with exceptionally skilled paramedical professionals who elevate the quality of the centre. This working model has helped me and would definitely aid the education of any young interventionalist.

How do you keep up to date?

I receive weekly newsletters from major cardiovascular journals. The PCR Journal Club provides focused commentaries regarding major breakthrough articles in interventional cardiology and is a very rapid and efficient way to keep on track. Social media is also an important part of medical education. Using social networks such as Twitter to follow main journals and key opinion leaders gives invaluable information on the direction in which the interventional cardiology world is moving. Check out @EuroIntervention, @ESC_journals, @escardio, and the ESC Facebook page.

Are congresses part of your CME?

I try to participate as much as possible in the main conferences. I attended EuroPCR last year to present the results of a novel risk score informing decision-making for DAPT duration in patients undergoing coronary stenting (PRECISE-DAPT score): this was developed from a pooled data set of eight randomised clinical trials. I’m hoping to present again this year and am looking forward to the results of the selection of abstracts.

The most interesting scientific article you’ve read recently?

A meta-analysis published in the last issue of EuroIntervention (2018;13:e1748-55) accompanied by a great editorial by Prof. Lars Søndergaard (2018;13:e1738-40): this article explores the clinical impact of subclinical leaftlet thrombosis in bioprosthetic aortic valves detected by MDCT. Really interesting, especially considering the huge increase in TAVI procedures.

Francesco Costa, MD, EAPCI grant winner 2017