Indo Japaneses CTO Club (IJCTO) recently organised the 8th Live Summit on Chronic Total Occlusion in Gurugram, India. The three-day summit was inaugurated by the Haryana Health and Family Welfare Minister, Anil Vij. The annual summit was attended by over 350 top cardiologists from India and those from Japan, Germany, Italy, Canada, the UK and the US.

The Chronic Total Occlusion (CTO) is a procedure pioneered by Japanese cardiologists to open up long-standing, 100 per cent blocked arteries by inserting drug-eluting stents (DES). These stents slowly release medicines in coronary arteries—that carry blood to the heart--to prevent formation of blood clots in patients. These operations are mainly performed on patients, who are either unwilling, or have a high risk for bypass surgery. The operation involves piercing the blocked artery with micro instruments specially designed wires, balloons and catheters to ensure the free flow of blood to the heart.

Dr Prathap Kumar N, Organising Secretary, Course Director & Chairman, Meditrina Group of Hospitals, said, “IJCTO is a collaborative effort by Indian & Japanese interventional cardiologists to collectively share their knowledge and experience regarding CTO PCI. This year’s live summit was organised to offer opportunities for greater learning in this field for all. With the advent of scientific innovations in the field of CTO PCI, we aim to ensure that the cardiologists are well-equipped with user-friendly precision hardware that results in good clinical outcomes.”