Despite the advances in stroke therapy with improved protocols for diagnosis and treatment of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients, there remains a shortage of physicians with formal training in endovascular surgical neuroradiology (ESN). This shortage is unlikely to change any time soon. In a disease process where every minute counts, delays in patient care can have a devastating effect. Transporting patients with AIS only to hospitals where there are physicians with this specific training can be fraught with challenges and may not even be possible.
Interventional radiologists are trained in interpreting the imaging studies used to plan image-guided interventions. CT and MR angiography, vascular ultrasound and stroke imaging are part of our formal training from the time we embarked on our journey to become IRs. We have the credentials that we have maintained understanding these techniques through the MOC process. The use of microcatheters, thrombolysis and clot removal are core techniques for IRs. The shortage of ESN-trained physicians, then, presents an important opportunity for IRs to step up and provide state-of-the-art treatment for patients with AIS.
At the SIR 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting, “SIR: The Stroke Course” provided an update of the society’s Catheter Lysis of Thromboembolic Stroke course (CLOTS, 2009–2012). This year’s Stroke Course was designed for 1) physicians who are both familiar with carotid interventions and considering performing intra-arterial stroke intervention and 2) those actively practicing IA stroke therapy. Before the SIR Stroke Course, the society provided registrants with background material from CLOTS, which allowed attendees to arrive with a solid foundation and to focus on current concepts in diagnosis and intra-arterial stroke therapy.
The turnout for the course was spectacular with 70 physicians from around the country attending the course from both academic and private practice settings. The course faculty included interventional radiologists, interventional neuroradiologists and endovascular neurosurgeons. Those physicians who completed the online-training, attended the workshop and passed the postcourse assessment received a certificate documenting their training with 11.25 hours of stroke CME (the American Stroke Association requires 8 hours of yearly stroke CME for those involved in stroke treatment).
On the basis of the turnout at the Stroke Course in Vancouver, SIR plans to offer the course at SIR 2017 in Washington, D.C. (March 4–7, 2017). The 2017 course will be updated with feedback from attendees and faculty to provide IRs comprehensive training in diagnosis and IA stroke therapy as well as discussions on practice building and hands-on workshops.
Registration for the SIR 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting and the 2017 Stroke Course opened on Oct. 1, 2016. Visit sirmeeting.org for more details.
