First European Symposium on 3DRA and Advanced Imaging in CHD

On 1-2 February 2013 the First European Symposium on '3D Rotational Angiography in Congenital Heart Disease' took place at the University Medical Center Utrecht. There was a worldwide interest for the symposium. Standard technique in the Cath-Lab is still the making of black-white 2D contrastfluid films. 3D Rotational Angiography contains the creating from an around the patient circling 2D angiography, which is converted in 3D images in seconds. In this way congenital heartdiseases - like stenosis in the outlet of a ventricle or aorta - is brought into picture down to the minutest detail. By analysing these images complex problems can be better understood and therefore the right therapy can be employed.

Impression of the symposium:

For more than one and a half year this new technique has been used by the Children's Hospital Utrecht with great success. Since one year the same technique is also used in the Academic Hospital Utrecht for GUCH-patients to obtain the same image information for offering top level care. The experiences of the pediatric cardiologists of the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital have inspired them tot organize this First European Symposium. The in two days held symposium was dominated by presentations, debates and exchanging experiences with speakers from diverse top medical centers on this area: Evan Zahn (USA), Elchanan Bruckheimer (Israel) and Shak Qureshi (United Kingdom) to name some of them. It led to dynamic days with a lot of interactions. From the speakers, the participants, such as top level pediatric interventional cardiologist Mario Carminati (Milano, Italy) this symposium in Utrecht was seen as unique and wished this international forum to be repeated yearly.

Collaboration strategies with colleaques from Israel, the United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and Sweden, but also national, for instance with colleaques from Groningen have been initiated.

Sponsors: Siemens, Philips, Andramed, Cook Medical, Angiocare, Medtronic, Heart Medical, St. Jude Medical