28 May 2010 - The world’s largest embolization meeting – Global Embolization Symposium and Technologies Meeting (GEST) US 2010 – has been judged a great success, bringing together 900 registered delegates from all over the world (45 countries), all under one roof.

Taking place in the US for the first time, the goal of GEST US 2010 was to highlight continual research and innovation in the field of embolization.

This fourth annual GEST Meeting was created by directors Drs Jafar Golzarian, Marc Sapoval and Ziv Haskal, and, for 2011, held in partnership with the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR).

The next GEST meeting will take place in Paris from April 27 to April 30 2011 and will return to the US in 2012

GEST co-director Dr Ziv Haskal said: “Covering all disciplines of embolization, GEST US 2010 built upon the success of the past three years’ events in Barcelona and Paris and continued research and innovation in the field of embolization. We also premiered a number of successful innovations this year, including concentrated live cases, simulator training, parallel training pathways, and new Master Classes

Director Dr Golzarian said: “GEST was particularly rich in clinical and basic research in embolization, further highlighted by the wealth of abstracts that were submitted – 120 in total.

“Juried abstracts were presented at GEST US and a selection (“Best of GEST”) was published in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (JVIR). The plenary sessions were of particular value to attendees. We look forward to continuing with these in future GEST meetings.”

The GEST directors were pleased with the event and mix of delegates including speakers, physicians, fellows, industry representatives and exhibitors, and, for the first time, technicians and nurses as part of a formal partnership with the Association of Vascular and Interventional Radiographers. “We’re very happy that we were able to keep the unique family esprit de corps that our attendees tell us is so unique, and resonant at GEST, even with expanding its content and scale,” said Haskal.

Other highlights included Hands-On Village, which offered attendees the opportunity to implement the techniques and devices discussed in the Master Classes. Using a virtual angiography simulator, participants were able to perform “real time” procedures controlling all aspects of the case. Computers simulated patient monitoring, fluoro, catheter and guidewire manipulation, contrast injection, c-arm positioning, PTA, stent placement, and embolic material delivery.

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DELEGATE COMMENTS

Dr Keigo Osuga, Japanese delegate

"I was very happy that many Japanese colleagues joined GEST for the first time. They really enjoyed the meeting and learnt a lot during the four days. The younger Japanese contingent were able to attend due to the grant they received from JSIR. Some even experienced their first English presentations.

The whole event was particularly valuable for us and it was great to mix ideas from East and West all under one roof.”

Jeff Kins, AVIR President

"I was very impressed with the quality and format of the master classes and plenary sessions, as were the other technologists and nurses in attendance with whom I've spoken.  We all felt the interaction between the physicians, nurses and technologists was unprecedented for a meeting of this calibre, and we are considering adopting some of these methods for the AVIR Annual Meeting in Chicago next March. Of particular interest was was the virtual angiographic simulator in the hands-on village.  Everyone from the AVIR really enjoyed the symposium and we hope to continue our relationship with GEST in the future."

Dr Frederick Keller, American delegate

“The GEST team put on a terrific meeting and showed great hospitality. This was a really worthwhile meeting to attend and I look forward to future GEST meetings.”