Keynote Speaker: Julio C. Palmaz, MD
Assume for a moment that in 25-30 years the prevalence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is drastically reduced to the point that it will not be the leading cause of death in industrialized countries. This scenario may be possible by the combined effect of biological agents like RNAi’s making a big dent on CV disease risks. Interventional cardiology may have to switch to cancer interventions (unlikely), or to “interventional CV prevention”. The therapeutic window of many current biological agents seems to be dependent on target selectivity and this can be accomplished by skilled interventionalists able to put a catheter or a device anywhere in the body. Delivery of these agents may be possible by different smart embodiments such as biological-agent-eluting vascular stents, interactive therapeutics reservoirs of biological agents or cell organoid enclosures. The focus of treatment may switch from the heart and vessels to the liver, gut and pancreas and other organs with high concentration of relevant molecular targets. Of course, there always will be obstructive vascular and structural heart disease but the interventional practice mix may change significantly. This scenario may be disruptive to the interventional cardiologist but more so to the traditional dynamics of pharmacotherapy.