The Charing Cross Symposium (CX; 21–24 April, London, UK) is the longest-running vascular and endovascular global symposium, and an important source of Education, Innovation, and Evidence as the vascular field in 2020 seeks clarity and truth. This year, the world-class CX Faculty will focus on reaching consensus in all aspects of the management of vascular disease.
Four CX Special Sessions have been introduced to the programme to focus on those topics that are seen as most central to the vascular community and warrant highlighting. Alongside these Special Sessions, 26 Podium 1st presentations will emphasise the latest data and a new session, Major Vascular Trauma, will address aortic, pelvic, extremity, and neck trauma.
This year, the four-day programme starts with three days of Aortic, Peripheral, Venous, and Vascular Access programmes, followed by a morning of Acute Stroke Consensus. Additional sessions include iWounds, Vascular Malformations and CX Meets Latin America.
Paclitaxel-coated device update
On Tuesday 21 April, the first CX Special Session will address the latest hypotheses and controversies in the debate surrounding the use of paclitaxel-coated devices in the lower limb.
New meta-analyses into the use of paclitaxel-coated devices in chronic limb-threatening ischaemia patients will be reported. The purpose will be to summarise what is new and learned in paclitaxel usage.
CX 2020 will distil the science from the hype, and tease out the evidence from the opinion—all the while keeping patients, and their physicians, front and centre. This Special Session will include input from the world-class CX Faculty, the regulatory bodies and from an expert audience.
Durability of EVAR, sac diameter and NICE guidelines
The second CX Special Session, on Wednesday 22 April, will focus on the durability of endovascular aneurysm repair, the importance of sac diameter, and the draft National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) aortic aneurysm guidelines.
The draft guidelines, published in May 2018, recommended UK healthcare professionals to favour open repair for aneurysms over endovascular repair. While the final guidelines remain unpublished at the time of writing, they could—if implemented—change vascular practice significantly. Elective aortic endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) would not be funded, as it is said not to be cost-effective in secondary and tertiary care. New approaches will be described.
In addition, collaboration will be a key theme, with a number of experts in the field detailing efforts to seek consensus amid uncertainty.
Type B aortic dissections consensus
Another aortic Special Session, scheduled to take place on Thursday 23 April, will be devoted to reaching consensus in the field of type B aortic dissection. One CX Debate will address whether or not early intervention is less risky in the modern endovascular era, while another will consider the motion that many uncomplicated type B dissections do not need repair. Furthermore, a number of experts in the field will discuss updates in treatment, including discussion of the frozen elephant trunk technique, fenestrated and branched repair, as well as dynamic imaging.
Endo AVF Virtual Reality edited cases
The fourth CX Special Session at this year’s meeting will take place on Wednesday 22 April during the Vascular Access Masterclass. The session will cover virtual reality edited cases with two endovascular arteriovenous fistula (Endo AVF) technologies: Ellipsys and WavelinQ. Delegates will have the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the experience with the use of high-resolution goggles.
