Flow 2014 meeting turns spotlight on Interventional Radiology in India

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The 16th annual conference of the Indian Society of Interventional Radiology, ISVIR 2014, was held 3–6 April in Mumbai, India. The theme of the meeting was flow—of ideas, progress, and of course, as physicians who spend a lot of time opening blocked arteries, of blood to the feet!

The organisers, Gireesh Warawdekar and Vimal Someshwar, arranged a three and a half day meeting with daily themes of venous interventions, peripheral vascular interventions, aortic interventions, oncology, and neurointerventional radiology.

The meeting was attended by over 320 registrants all over India and the world. International faculty from the UK, the US, Japan, Korea, Greece, Germany and Singapore participated. Two keynote addresses were offered by John Kaufman, Dotter institute, Portland, USA, whose lecture “Interventional Radiology:  the first 50 years” focused on the great strides we have made toward achieving Charles Dotter’s vision. Chander Mohan then offered a National Oration, summarising the state of interventional radiology in India noting the opportunities at hand to “take charge” of the field’s future.

Other meeting highlights included an inspiring early morning group walkathon that included several patients treated for peripheral vascular disease who shared inspirational stories of how interventional radiology solutions had helped them become mobile again. There was also an exciting competition among the interventional radiology fellows at leading institutions throughout India, and a groundbreaking session on training opportunities in interventional radiology that focused all on the great need for more training to meet demand in this populous country.

As the meeting wound down with a rousing Bollywood-themed party, Someshwar said: A well-rounded scientific programme, an extensive exhibition and enjoyable evening functions were well appreciated by attending interventional radiologists.”