Carman, Teresa L.

Acute iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis and chronic iliofemoral venous obstruction cause substantial patient harm and are increasingly managed with endovascular venous interventions, including percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy and stent placement. However, studies of these treatment elements have not been designed and reported with sufficient rigor to support confident conclusions about their clinical utility. In this project, the Trustworthy consensus-based statement approach was utilized to develop, via a structured process, consensus-based statements to guide future investigators of venous interventions. Thirty statements were drafted to encompass major topics relevant to venous study description and design, safety outcome assessment, efficacy outcome assessment, and topics specific to evaluating percutaneous venous thrombectomy and stent placement. Using modified Delphi techniques for consensus achievement, a panel of physician experts in vascular disease voted on the statements and succeeded in reaching the predefined threshold of >80% consensus (agreement or strong agreement) on all 30 statements. It is hoped that the guidance from these statements will improve standardization, objectivity, and patient-centered relevance in the reporting of clinical outcomes of endovascular interventions for acute iliofemoral deep venous thrombosis and chronic iliofemoral venous obstruction in clinical studies and thereby enhance venous patient care.

Background In every field of medicine, comprehensive education should be delivered at the graduate level. Currently, no single specialty routinely provides a standardized comprehensive curriculum in venous and lymphatic disease. Method The American Board of Venous & Lymphatic Medicine formed a task force, made up of experts from the specialties of dermatology, family practice, interventional radiology, interventional cardiology, phlebology, vascular medicine, and vascular surgery, to develop a consensus document describing the program requirements for fellowship medical education in venous and lymphatic medicine. Result The Program Requirements for Fellowship Education in Venous and Lymphatic Medicine identify the knowledge and skills that physicians must master through the course of fellowship training in venous and lymphatic medicine. They also specify the requirements for venous and lymphatic training programs. The document is based on the Core Content for Training in Venous and Lymphatic Medicine and follows the ACGME format that all subspecialties in the United States use to specify the requirements for training program accreditation. The American Board of Venous & Lymphatic Medicine Board of Directors approved this document in May 2016. Conclusion The pathway to a vein practice is diverse, and there is no standardized format available for physician education and training. The Program Requirements for Fellowship Education in Venous and Lymphatic Medicine establishes educational standards for teaching programs in venous and lymphatic medicine and will facilitate graduation of physicians who have had comprehensive training in the field.