A decade ago, as I began my inimitable career as a STEMI Interventionalist, a dilemma loomed large. STEMI Interventions clearly saved lives but would the procedure become obsolete from statin use and life style change? Or would the process of a D2B intervention become so cumbersome that hospitals would not be able to cope with the logistical challenges? These doubts were laid to rest recently by the publication from Fokkema et al. (Population Trends in Percutaneous Intervention, JACC Vol 61, No. 12, 2013) that demonstrated the proportion of STEMI Interventions in a catheterization laboratory steadily increasing over the last decade, swelling from 5.4% in 1999 to 32.5% in 2012! This epidemiologic observation is seismic for Lumen Global, a scientific and educational endeavor dedicated to saving lives from AMI. A meeting devoted to increasing STEMI awareness and improving the STEMI procedure and the process has suddenly catapulted to teaching one of the most common procedures in the catheterization laboratory! Beyond the exultant implication for Lumen Global, the Fokkema publication has triggered a personal triumph.

Lumen Global recently concluded its XII Annual Symposium in New Delhi, India. During the course of its planning, the "meeting" matured into a "movement" for patient awareness. Wide support from cardiology and medical societies spurred the critical dispatch of Lumen Global. Political, press and media sustenance were unprecedented and attendance was robust. Feedback has been heartwarming and some has been faithfully reproduced on this website.

The New Delhi meeting was preceded by a similarly forceful convention in 2011 in Dubai. Both meetings enormously broadened the breadth and scope of the previous ten Annual Lumen meetings in Miami and justified the evolution of Lumen into Lumen Global and its forays into Asia.

Much of Asia remains in the depths of a CAD epidemic with formidable AMI statistics revealing millions of young adults succumbing to heart attacks. Survivors are left with incapacitating left ventricular function and a life of disability. Much of these terrible statistics and adverse epidemiology can be overcome by scientifically applying the gains of Primary PCI. This can be done either with a universal solicitation of robust D2B STEMI interventions or through pragmatic pharmaco-invasive strategies.

An amazing 15-minute procedure that saves lives and prevents disability simply must not be denied to any patient. It is all the more critical that the existing barriers of providing STEMI care be overcome to allow all patients the benefit of Primary PCI. This is exactly the tenacious mission of Lumen Global – to narrow the existing gap in the scientific application of Primary PCI between North America and Europe, and Asia.

For over a decade, Lumen Global has fine-tuned this message through a forceful narrative. Initiatives that were evaluated at previous Lumen Global conferences have contributed globally to improving the STEMI process and procedure.
To manage AMI, and to prevent its mortality and morbidity, a broad public health mandate is essential. This campaign requires a broad coalition of cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, family physicians, emergency room physicians, ambulance and paramedics, nurses and cardiovascular technicians. Lumen Global is devoted to educating this diverse team of participants in a remarkable conference that skillfully and efficiently delivers this message.
If you are an individual that cares for an AMI patient, please make Lumen Global your rendezvous for a robust scientific exercise. It has required a monumental journey to bring this superb initiative to Asia and to its most magnificent outpost for 2014 – Bangkok, Thailand.
I welcome you to join the outstanding faculty of Lumen Global in Bangkok and partake in a top AMI meeting that is recognized for its scientific and academic integrity. Please come and enjoy the warm Thai hospitality at a world-class venue in a vibrant and throbbing city.

Be a participant of Lumen Global, the movement beyond the meeting! Attend the First Meeting of the Year for the Best Indication for PCI!

Sameer Mehta, MD
Course Director, Lumen Global
Chairman, Lumen Foundation

 

2013 Faculty Feedback 

 

 

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