Workshop 1: Crossing-devices
Dr. Michael Lichtenberg
He is Chief Medical Officer and Director of the Angiology Department and Vascular Center at the Arnsberg Clinic in Arnsberg, Germany.
He received his medical degree from the Heinrich-Heine Medical University of Dusseldorf. He also studied at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana and the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Lichtenberg is an Interventional Angiologist with 20 years of experience in endovascular interventions. His areas of clinical interest include deep venous intervention, peripheral artery disease, peripheral thrombosis and atherosclerosis.
One of his further interest is the evaluation of new devices, techniques and procedures for interventions of peripheral artery disease. He has performed a series of studies in this area and conducted many clinical trials.
Prof. dr. Sarah Thomis
Sarah Thomis finished training as a general and vascular surgeon at the University of Leuven, Belgium in 2011. She followed additional training in the Netherlands and at Duke University, North Carolina, US. She is a staff member of the department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium and is the responsible physician of the center for lymphedema.
She is specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of phlebological and lymphological diseases. Besides clinical activities, she is also active as a researcher in the domain of phlebology and lymphology and has authored numerous publications. In December 2021 she finished her PhD with title: ‘Optimization of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities to influence the natural history of breast cancer-related lymphedema’. She is an assistant professor, department of Cardiovascular Sciences; Vascular surgery, KU Leuven.
She is on the board of the International Compression Club and the European Society of Lymphology and is the president of the Benelux Society of Phlebology.
Information about the workshop
Chronic occlusive venous disease is a challenge. If there is a good indication, it is worthwhile to try to pass this occlusion.
Are their tools to help us crossing this chronic occlusion?
In this workshop you will find out tips and tricks to cross a chronic occlusion.
Learning objectives:
- To learn about the different methods to cross a venous occlusion
- To learn which devices are on the market and how to use them
Workshop 2: Tips and tricks: Venous stenting
Dr. Marie Josee van Tongerlo-van Rijn
She is a vascular surgeon at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. Her main interests are deep venous pathology, complex wound care, aortic aneurysms and peripheral arterial disease.
She studied medicine at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and also epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and Erasmus University in Rotterdam. She is also a board member of the Belgium Society of Phlebology and the European Venous Forum.
Prof. dr. Geert Maleux
Geert Maleux, MD, PhD is full professor in Interventional Radiology at the faculty of medicine, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.
After a one-year clinical fellowship at CHU Rangeuil Toulouse (France), he became staff member at the department of Interventional Radiology, University Hospitals, Leuven, Belgium in the year 1997. In 2000, he became head of the Interventional Department. The Leuven department of Interventional Radiology includes catheter-directed procedures, including portal & venous angioplasty and stenting , embolization, dialysis intervention, aortic stent-grafting, neuro-interventions as well as non-vascular procedures, including biliary drainage, percutaneous ablation and osseous intervention.
Geert Maleux has authored more than 350 articles in the field of interventional radiology ; he is member of the advisory board of the journal ‘Cardiovascular & Interventional Radiology’ and is member of the board of directors of the GEST embolization meeting. In 2022 he served as chairman of the interventional oncology section at the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) in Vienna and he is member of the scientific program committee of CIRSE-IDEAS 2023-2024.
Information about the workshop
As a vascular surgeon we are trained to stent the arterial system. Can we extrapolate our experiences in arterial disease into venous disease? What type of stents are available and what are the major challenges?
In this workshop we will discuss some tips and tricks in venous stenting.
Learning objectives:
- To learn the different venous stents
- To learn the difference between venous and arterial stenting
- To learn how to avoid complications
Workshop 3: Difficult cases: Compression
Dr. Beate Bechter-Hugl
Beate Bechter-Hugl, MD graduated from Innsbruck Medical school in 2000 and started her residency in general surgery at the department of general surgery at the University Hospital Innsbruck, Austria. During her training she started to specialize in vascular surgery at the department of vascular surgery also at the University Hospital Innsbruck.
Her training was interrupted by a one-year research fellowship at the department of vascular surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida in 2004 and 2005. After finishing her residency, she became a board-certified general en vascular surgeon in Austria.
In 2012 she moved to Belgium and joined the department of vascular surgery at UZ Leuven as a staff member. In Leuven she continued to specialize in phlebology and lymphology.
Besides her clinical focus she has also published multiple papers covering various topics in phlebology and vascular medicine. She is also an active member of several national and international vascular societies.
Elke Sleurs
Elke Sleurs studied orthotics and has been working as an orthotist since 2000. In 2013, she founded Bandagisterie Leuven, where she and her team work daily to fine-tune compression solutions made to measure for their patients.
Since 2017, she has been part of the multidisciplinary team at the Center for lymphedema of the University Hospitals Leuven, where she continues to deepen her expertise in compression therapy and complex cases. She has contributed to several clinical trials, where she was responsible for providing the compression garments.
In addition to her daily work, Elke lectures at the inter-university postgraduate course on edema therapy for physiotherapists and is part of the RIZIV expert group on therapeutic elastic compression stockings. She is also a member of the International Compression Club.
Information about the workshop
Compression therapy is a very important component in the treatment of venous disease, lymphedema and venous malformations. Unfortunately it is not so easy to decide which compression is best for which patient. Some patients have a difficult shape of their legs or folds which make it challenging to find suitable compression.
In this workshop we will present some difficult cases and we will challenge you to make a proposition.
Learning objectives :
- To learn what type of compression is recommended for lymphatic and venous disease
- To learn more about the reimbursement of compression material in lymphatic and venous disease
- To discuss difficult cases