Shanghai, China – The 13th Oriental Congress of Cardiology (OCC 2019) was held at the Shanghai Expo Center on May 31, 2019, bringing together about 2,000 healthcare professionals from 21 countries and regions as speakers and honored guests as well as over 13,000 attendees. Shanghai MicroPort Medcial (Group) Co., Ltd. (“MicroPort®”) presented Firehawk® Rapamycin Target Eluting Coronary Stent System ("Firehawk®") and Firefighter™ PTCA Balloon Dilation Catheter (“Firefighter™”), which attracted wide attention from Chinese and overseas cardiologists.
Firefighter Night - Firefighter™ Sets Off on Journey
On June 1, MicroPort® hosted “Firefighter Night” which brought together many cardiologists to take a close look at Firefighter™.
As its name implies, the Firefighter™ of MicroPort® charges like real-world firefighters to open access to lesion vessels and save patients’ lives when they are on the brink of death. Due to its outstanding performance featuring small sizes, flexibility, apposition and smoothness, Firefighter™ overcomes the challenges caused by complex lesions to ensure the safety of procedures together with doctors.
MicroPort® First Vice President, Domestic Coronary Sales & Marketing, Lei Jiang said in an opening remark, “Firefighter™ has received excellent market feedbacks since being put in clinical application, as it has demonstrated outstanding performance in the PCI treatment of complex lesions such as chronic total occlusion (CTO). We hope to use this event to deepen the healthcare professionals’ understandings of the MicroPort® products other than stents. We also expect more suggestions and advice on the product portfolios of MicroPort® from the healthcare professionals, which could help us continually optimize product performance and improve the services provided for patients and doctors.”
During the launch ceremony of Firefighter™, a starting gun was jointly fired by MicroPort® Chief Marketing Officer Mr. Bo Peng and the selected KOLs, namely Prof. Kefei Dou from Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Fuwai Hospital, Prof. Ruiyan Zhang from Rui Jin Hospital, Prof. Biao Xu from Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Prof. Lang Hong from Jiangxi Provincial People’s Hospital, Prof. Haichang Wang from Tangdu Hospital, and Prof. Ling Tao from Xijing Hospital. Afterwards, MicroPort® Senior Director, Catheter R&D, Bin Yue appeared on the stage, dressed up in firefighter uniform, and introduced the R&D history of Firefighter™ with an impressive talk show. The naming of the product as Firefighter™ underscored the determination and faith that MicroPort® employees take on challenges with great courage. The design of combining innovative balloon materials and patented inner shaft fluorine material resulted in the outstanding crossability and intra-operative safety of Firefighter™.
Prof. Zening Jin from Beijing Anzhen Hospital of Capital Medical University and Prof. Bin Zhang from Guangdong General Hospital spoke of their experience and impressions on clinical application of Firefighter™ in CTO. Firefighter™ demonstrated outstanding performance against the CTO posing extreme tortuosity and stenosis, which was highly recognized by the healthcare professionals.
Firefighter™ Wins Praises from Healthcare Professionals
During the live case session on June 1, Prof. Sidney Lo from Australia, Prof. Toshiya Muramatsu from Japan and Prof. Fenghua Ding from Rui Jin Hospital applied Firefighter™ in three operations performed at the catheterization laboratory of Rui Jin Hospital. A total of three Firefighter™ systems, with two 1.0*6mm and one 1.0*10mm, were used in the live cases under the topic of complex lesions. The ultra-low profile and excellent crossability of Firefighter™ won praises from the three operators.
The MicroPort® Firefighter™ symposium was held on the same day and co-chaired by Prof. Yuejin Yang from Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Fuwai Hospital, Prof. Wenhua Lin from Teda International Cardiovascular Hospital, Prof. Qi Zhang from Shanghai East Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Tongji University, Prof. Fei Ye from Nanjing First Hospital and Prof. Qian Dong from Norman Bethune Hospital of Jilin University. At first, Prof. Fei Ye introduced the performance of Firefighter™, which can help operators handling various lesions with its features of ultra-low profile, flexibility, apposition and smoothness. Afterwards, Prof. Yu Luo from Shanghai East Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Tongji University, Prof. Zhenyong Li from Xuzhou Central Hospital and Prof. Zhaobing Li from Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, University of South China spoke of their clinical experience of applying Firefighter™ in serious calcified lesion, CTO and other complex lesions. They also had heated discussions with the healthcare professionals in attendance, with the performance of Firefighter™ recognized.
Prof. Qi Zhang remarked in the end, “The symposium was full of impressive content, as Prof. Fei Ye spoke of product features on the basis of his tactics of handling complex lesions as well as his clinical experience. In addition, the three professors used clinical cases to share hands-on experience with several products. I hope there will be more opportunities to thoroughly discuss outstanding cases of Firefighter™.”
“How to Treat” PCI Forum Contributes to Scientific Exchange
The “PCI Forum – How to Treat” co-organized by MicroPort® took place on May 31. Revolving around complex lesions and split into two sessions, the forum was moderated by Prof. Yean-Leng Lim AM, Prof. Shaobin Jia from General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Prof. Guoqing Li from Xinjiang People’s Hospital, Prof. Lijun Guo from Peking University Third Hospital, Prof. Jinghua Liu from Beijing Anzhen Hospital of Capital Medical University, Prof. Jingang Zheng from China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Prof. Hongliang Cong from Tianjin Chest Hospital, Prof. Yu Wang from Chinese PLA General Hospital and Prof. Chung-Seung Chiang from Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Besides, several senior healthcare professionals engaged in PCI provided on-site comments and guidance on cases.
Prior to OCC 2019, MicroPort® had collected cases nationwide and invited the OCC 2019 panel to select eight excellent cases to present at the forum. After the presenters introduced the cases’ history and examination results, two of the experienced moderators spoke of their expected therapeutic tactics and plans for these cases. In the end, the presenters spoke of the actual treatment for the cases. The exchanges and collisions of different ideas and therapeutic tactics, all of which were meant to yield best therapies in the same cases, left the healthcare professionals in attendance hugely benefitted.
Lang Ya List Case Competition
On June 2, MicroPort® hosted the Lang Ya List Case Competition under the theme of complex lesions, which was moderated by Prof. Yean-Leng Lim, Prof. Weifeng Shen from Rui Jin Hospital, Prof. Shuzheng Lü from Beijing Anzhen Hospital of Capital Medical University, Prof. Haichang Wang from Tangdu Hospital and Prof. Ling Tao from Xijing Hospital. The competition was split into two divisions featuring a total of 10 outstanding cases selected nationwide. Finally, Mr. Weiming Li from Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital and Ms. Zhengyan from Zhejiang Quzhou People’s Hospital placed first in their respective divisions.
Prof. Yean-Leng Lim commented, “I think the Lang Ya List Case Competition is of substantial educational significance, as it can help many entry-level doctors be aware of the shortcomings in their operations and choices of tactics. It can also help them learn how to handle the cases correctly. I believe that it will be very helpful in their future clinical practice.”
During OCC 2019, the MicroPort® booth comprehensively showcased multiple innovative achievements of MicroPort® in cardiology, which were led by the interventional cardiology products in combination with the products in the fields of cardiac rhythm management and electrophysiology, and structural heart. As a leading innovation-driven high-end medical device group from China, MicroPort® will continue to follow the management credo of “Hands on details, eyes for greatness”, further enhance its communication and exchange with doctors, and listen to the clinical needs and suggestions from clinicians. MicroPort® will also take a people-centric approach and innovate relentlessly to provide integrated solutions for cardiovascular diseases of even higher quality.