On June 26-27 2021, we were happy to partner with our distributor Ewopharma to support the “IX Bulgarian Course for Coronary physiology and physiology of non-coronary vessels” with live cases from Tokuda Hospital Sofia. Ewopharma were a gold sponsor of the course and were strongly engaged in promoting all ACIST technologies with focus on dPR & NAVVUS II.
The live cases at the meeting were performed by Prof. Gelev from Tokuda Hospital in Sofia, who is a strong advocate for dPR, which we have only just launched in Bulgaria. Prof. Gelev used dPR to guide his PCI strategy in a difficult LAD and diagonal bifurcation lesion. He also used AT X65 for the first time during the live case, on which his feedback was positive. During the live case, it was great to witness a discussion by the panel about the excellent crossability of Navvus II. Later in the program, he also mentioned dPR several times as part of another unsponsored presentation, which shows that it really is fast becoming standard practice for a growing number of key centers in Bulgaria.
In the week prior to the event we were able to visit and attend cases in several key centers including City Clinic Sofia with Prof. Ivo Petrov, Alexandrovska Hospital, the National Heart Hospital and Tokuda Hospital. We performed multiple dPR upgrades for which feedback was positive, especially about the speed and the ease of the procedure. In most cases they validated the dPR result with FFR, and in every case the dPR and FFR values agreed. In one case the dPR measurement satisfied the need for information and eliminated the need for performing FFR with adenosine, which saved time and cost for the hospital.
We also supported five initial AT X65 cases. The feedback was positive, mainly because the additional length was welcomed. We spent some time explaining the trade-off between improved hemodynamic signal and difference in handling of the line.
There is a lot of interest in HDi in Bulgaria, and we are looking to have several installations this year. We are confident that the excellent Ewopharma team is going to grow the success of CVi, RXi and HDi in Bulgaria.
Frits Kramer & Mark Green,
EMEA Distributor Managers