Vein Specialist

Table of Contents

Message from the Editor
Steve Elias, MD 

Meet Your 2022 AVF Board of Directors
Allie Woodward 

AVF Volunteer Leadership in Action
Amy Murrin 

Lessons Learned by AVF President and Advice to Members
Elna Masuda, MD, Mike Dalsing, MD, DFAVF, Tom Wakefield, MD 

AVF Research Grants Previous Winners
Andrea Obi, MD

2023 AVF-JOBST Clinical Research Grant 2023

2023 AVF-BSCI Translational Research Grant 

Meet the AVF Administrative Team
Allie Woodward, John Forbes, MD, FCA

The Team Behind the Team
Donald Rolfe 

The AVF’s Commitment to DEI
Ruth Bush, MD, Misaki Kiguchi, MD, Anil Hingorani, MD, Elna Masuda, MD, Kathleen Ozsvath, MD 

Report from the AVF’s Health Policy Committee Chair
Sheila Coogan, MD 

Answering the Questions about Venous Stents: The C-TRACT Trial
Suresh Vedantham, MD 

Update on the AMA RAW Meeting
Mark Iafrati, MD 

Winner of the Best Abstract at VENOUS2022
Elizabeth Andraska, MD 

International Venous and Lymphatic Pathways: From the Pandemic to Better Patient Care
Sergio Gianesini, MD, PhD, FACS 

A Message from AVF Board of Directors on Ukraine 

The AVF has some of the top leaders in the field of venous and lymphatic disease. Getting involved in the society at any point in your career can be very rewarding as it allows you access to experts in the field and others who share common questions and challenges. The surprise for me were the opportunities offered by the society to make a difference for your own patients and enjoy the journey along the way. For example, the AVF Exchange is an online secure “chat” with other members. I have learned a lot about nuances in practice through interacting with my colleagues using this society resource, such as how to manage a patient with severe skin changes in the legs but very little venous disease and how to manage allergic reactions to cyanoacrylate, to name a few. 

AVF Exchange also provides access to experts in the field who can provide advice for rare and challenging cases. One example is my partner who recently completed a fellowship in Vascular Surgery who encountered an interesting case of nutcracker syndrome. She had never performed a renal vein transposition during fellowship and wanted assistance in planning and executing the procedure. Through communication with several AVF members, together we performed the operation and the patient did very well. 

The American Venous Forum Health Policy Committee received an update from Dr Mark Iafrati regarding the most recent American Medical Association’s Relativity Assessment Workgroup (AMA RAW) meeting—see article on page 24 of this issue of Vein Specialist). Dr Iafrati has been an incredible advocate for the AVF both on the Health Policy Committee and with his contribution at the recent AMA meeting. Through the efforts of the AVF leaders and Health Policy committee, the AVF will be granted a delegate at the AMA House of Delegates next year. To ensure that the AVF has a place, please become a member of the AMA to ensure that the AVF’s voice will be heard in future AMA meetings. 

As always, we encourage input from members when they receive denials or feel that a provider’s policy is not consistent with the bast care for their patients. 

Lastly, in keeping with Dr Elias’ use of cultural references, the architect (to be identified in next month’s issue) below is credited with the quote, “the devil is in the details,” which is only too true for health care policy.