More than 50 podium-first presentations headline the 47th Charing Cross (CX) International Symposium—opening today (Wednesday 23 April) at the ExCeL London—with the aim of addressing some of the most urgent challenges currently facing the vascular world. Led by co-chairs Dittmar Böckler (Heidelberg, Germany), Andrew Holden (Auckland, New Zealand) and Erin Murphy (Charlotte, United States), alongside a global executive board, the CX 2025 programme will see upwards of 250 world-class experts presenting the latest data in their respective fields.
Endovascular first or surgery? This will be one of the key conundrums to be addressed in this year’s peripheral arterial and chronic limb-threatening ischaemia (CLTI) programme, with new data due to be presented today kicking off a series of podium-first presentations from the landmark BASIL-2, BASIL-3 and BEST-CLI trials. These form part of over 30 podium-first presentations in the peripheral programme stream.
This morning, during the peripheral arterial session, Matthew Popplewell (Birmingham, United Kingdom) will share health economic and pooled mortality analyses updates from BASIL-3—first results of which were shared at CX 2024—ahead of delivering two presentations on BASIL-2 during Friday morning’s CLTI session. Friday’s session will also see Matthew Menard and Alik Farber (both Boston, United States) deliver podium-first presentations on cost-effectiveness data and a subset analysis from BEST-CLI, respectively, to move the conversation forward on which patients benefit from a surgical- or endovascular-first approach.
Elsewhere, 19 podium-first presentations will feature in the aortic track, including tomorrow (Thursday) from Martin Björck (Uppsala, Sweden), who will speak on recognising and treating abdominal compartment syndrome in the era of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA). New data will also feature in tomorrow’s venous and lymphatic programme, including from Manj Gohel (Cambridge and London, United Kingdom) on cyanoacrylate closure, and in today’s vascular access masterclass from Nicholas Inston (Birmingham, United Kingdom), who will share ACCESS 2 results, and others.
Alongside the new data will be a series of other highlights. The theme of this year’s meeting is challenges and Gustavo Oderich (Houston, United States) is set to speak on ‘meeting the 21st century challenges in aortic education, innovation and evidence’ during the inaugural Roger M Greenhalgh memorial lecture on Friday. “Delivering the Roger M Greenhalgh memorial lecture at Charing Cross is an incredible privilege and honour, allowing me to address the critical challenges we face in the realms of education, innovation, and evidence in aortic surgery,” Oderich tells CX Daily News.
Previewing the lecture, Oderich shares: “Clinically, we are witnessing a dramatic increase in the complexity of procedures, paired with a declining number of open surgical repairs and lack of an organised centralised system. This shift compels us to rethink how we train the next generation of surgeons effectively. The landscape of evidence in vascular surgery is further complicated by competitive funding pressures and the necessity for personalised care and predictive outcome models. We must ask ourselves: how do we ascertain which patients genuinely require these procedures, how do we predict their longevity, and how do we determine who will benefit most? Despite the urgency, securing funding for aortic research remains challenging, as these conditions, relatively minor compared to cancer and cardiovascular diseases, often fail to capture public health priorities. Addressing these challenges will require clinical research and educational models to ensure the continued growth and success of our field.”
Complementing the main CX 2025 programme will be several additional activities, including workshops across all three days, the CX Innovation Showcase, the launch of The Hurting Leg Campaign, several global collaborations including CX Meets Latin America, CX Meets Egypt, CLI-C@CX and VIVA@CX, and a session dedicated to challenging cases.
