President's Message

By Al Stammers, MSA, CCP
AmSECT President

Prophesies are often uttered by those whom believe they are in some way especially endowed to look deeply at a topic and come up with reflections on how life will be when whatever happens - happens. The influencing factors that affect the accuracy in predicting what future events will occur are many, and include historical trends, advancing technologies, and economic ordering of importance. In medicine, one prediction that has surely been realized during the past 50 years has been the increase of over 20 years in life expec­tancy: the result of both advancing technologies and modifications in certain behaviors.

In perfusion, we also have experienced remarkable changes in the past five decades. However, the technological advancements in cardiovascular medicine that have resulted in more recent, and perhaps profound, effects on improving quality of life issues post-intervention, have been focused on less invasive, hence, less surgical, procedures. Predictions for the total number of procedures requiring cardiopulmonary bypass often are depicted in graphs where the dependent variable of case number is inversely related to time. Yet, this is procedure-dependent with surgical coronary revascularizations clearly demonstrating an inverse relationship, while other perfusion-requiring procedures (valve procedures, blood management, wound healing, heart failure with long-term assist devices), are trending in the opposite direction. It is the latter group that most influences future initiatives that AmSECT will address in serving the needs of perfusionists.

The AmSECT Convention Planning Committee recently met and outlined the subject content for next year’s 45th International Conference of the Society in Atlanta, GA. AmSECT is once again committed to its mission of fostering improved patient care by providing for the continuing education and professional needs of the extracorporeal circulation technology community. The offerings in Atlanta will include the traditional ses­sions on the foundation of perfusion in such subject areas as pediatrics, perioperative blood management, monitoring, and perfusion education. And, of course, the latest breaking science will be presented in the plenary scientific sessions that represent international cutting-edge research in the field of extracorporeal cir­culation. Additional areas that will be represented are sessions on perfusion best practices, which will be presented by the International Consortium on Evidenced Based Perfusion, a group founded this year by AmSECT with representation from numerous perfusion organizations throughout the world.

Of special note this year is the introduction of an entire day devoted to the extracorporeal support of heart failure patients through the application of technologies of ventricular as­sistance. This workshop will be conducted the day prior to the Interantional Conference on Wednesday, April 25, 2006, and will be limited to 100 individuals who register for this additional venue. The initial portion of the workshop will focus on didactic aspects of heart failure and support, while the second part will be devoted to hands-on demonstration of the various devices used for support. The study and interventions in the area of heart failure are growing and perfusionists will only be able to participate in the expansion if they are educated and knowl­edgable in this complex technology.

No one should doubt that the field of cardiovascular perfusion is changing. Those who are most adaptable to the changes will not only survive, but also prosper in their desire to support and improve patient care. The words of Bob Dylan ring as true today as they did over 40 years ago, and the call for perfusionists to start “swimmin” needs to be heeded.

Come gather ‘round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.