Miami Poised to Challenge America’s Number One Killer

     Miami, FL (January 28, 2009) – On February 26th through the 28th, at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel in Miami Beach, FL, many of the nation’s most respected and innovative practitioners of cardiac medicine will come together at LUMEN 2009: The Symposium on Optimal Treatments for Acute MI, for the purpose of affecting America’s number one killer – heart disease. Present will be the President of the American College of Cardiology, Dr. W. Douglas Weaver, who has been an outspoken advocate for healthcare reform in the U.S.

     “Heart disease does not discriminate. Men and women of all races and ethnicities will die because of numerous factors including heredity, poor diet and lack of exercise. Immediate treatment by skilled cardiac clinicians can affect the outcome, but as of 2009 only one state has instituted protocols to treat heart attack victims with the same care that the nation’s trauma victims are afforded,” says LUMEN 2009 Program Director Sameer Mehta, MD, FACC, MBA. Dr. Mehta has been a pioneer in the need to establish national protocols for STEMI patients in the U.S. much like America’s trauma centers. He is author of the Textbook of STEMI Interventions and a past President of the American Heart Association (Miami Dade Chapter). His work on STEMI interventions is captured in the SINCERE database, which includes a large cohort of STEMI interventions performed at five South Florida hospitals.

     According to the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the majority of deaths from STEMI (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction), a heart attack caused by complete obstruction of a coronary artery, occurs within the first 1 to 2 hours after symptom onset. In 2005, the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions issued a joint report strongly recommending that patients suffering from a ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction have blood flow restored to their heart muscle within 90 minutes. The 90 minutes begins from the time the patient arrives at the hospital, and ends when the artery is opened, often referred to as door-to-balloon (D2B) time. It requires a highly experienced cardiovascular surgical team on call 24 hours a day.

     In July of last year, Missouri became the first and ONLY state to pass legislation (HB 1709) that would provide for new laws to include a STEMI or Stroke Center designation. Mirroring the protocol of the nation’s trauma network, Missouri’s new law requires EMS is to transport heart attack or stroke patients to STEMI centers, not simply to the closest hospital (the established protocol in states across the U.S.). Hospitals in the area with the newly created STEMI or Stroke designations would have staff with the experience and the most up-to-date protocols to treat heart attack victims.

     “New guidelines, as set forth by the 2005 report, have forced a scientific, legal and quality mandate on interventional cardiologists and upon institutions that provide treatment to these patients,” adds Mehta. “Achieving door-to-balloon times of less than 90 minutes requires multi-disciplinary and coordinated teamwork between EMS, the emergency department and the cardiac cath lab.”

     “Excellence is now required for the performance of the STEMI procedure and for mastering the STEMI process. In order to address these new challenges, LUMEN 2009: The Symposium on Optimal Treatments for Acute MI was created as a one-stop, STEMI educational rendezvous,” comments Mehta. “For LUMEN 2009, I have sought the knowledge of world experts to create a robust CME program — four luminary co-directors, each a respective giant in interventional cardiology, door-to-balloon time processes, emergency medicine, thrombectomy and cardiovascular nursing.”

     Other programs will include the STEMI Processes Symposium, a session of the world’s top five STEMI programs presented by their directors — the first time at a single meeting. In addition, LUMEN 2009 has more than 12 innovative and pragmatic workshops where attendees can master techniques to achieve low door-to-balloon times for STEMI interventions. Finally, there will be two great debates on the two most critical questions in STEMI interventions — which type of stent to use and whether primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) should be done only at tertiary centers.

     LUMEN 2009: The Symposium on Optimal Treatments for Acute MI is an integrated STEMI educational program produced by the North American Center for Continuing Medical Education (NACCME, LLC) for hospitalists, intensivists, clinical and interventional cardiologists, cardiac and vascular surgeons, emergency department staff, general practitioners, critical care nurses, cardiovascular laboratory technicians, paramedics, and hospital administrators. The innovative CME agenda will include lectures, debates, workshops, and certification courses. To learn more, visit www.LUMENami.com.

     HMP Communications, LLC, a sister company to NACCME, LLC, has been contracted to manage logistics for the event, including audience generation and the acquisition and management of all corporate sponsorships and exhibits.

     For information about attending LUMEN 2009: The Symposium on Optimal Treatments for Acute MI please visit www.LUMENami.com or call Sheila Donato (800) 237-7285 ext. 233 to request a brochure.

     For information on sponsorship and exhibit opportunities, please contact HMP Communications, LLC directly at (800) 237-7285 and ask for Jeff Martin.

     NACCME, LLC is a leading accredited medical education and communications company. CME/CE activities sponsored by NACCME, LLC reach medical professionals in many different formats. Through meetings, publications, and web-based programming, thousands of healthcare practitioners participate in NACCME, LLC activities, expanding their clinical knowledge and competence by examining current medical issues, trends, therapies, and technologies. CME/CE activities sponsored by NACCME, LLC are produced to strengthen practitioner awareness of evidence-based patient care advances in a broad range of therapeutic areas. NACCME, LLC sponsors CME/CE activities for physicians, pharmacists, podiatrists, nurses, physician assistants, and other allied healthcare professionals. NACCME, LLC is committed to improving healthcare practitioner knowledge, competence, and performance, ultimately to improve patient care.

     HMP Communications, LLC has spent the past two decades focusing on advances in the clinical care and treatment in some of the world’s most debilitating diseases and medical conditions. Today, healthcare professionals consider HMP Communications, LLC medical journals, websites, meetings and symposia as authoritative sources for comprehensive information in the fields of wound care, dermatology, podiatry, cardiovascular care, electrophysiology, long term care, managed care, diabetes, arthritis, and specialized primary care. HMP Communications, LLC journals are both peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed to best disseminate educational content in the most effective manner for readers. In addition to online and print media, the company produces and manages tradeshows, conferences, symposia, digital programs and customized programs.