Advances in catheter-based coronary interventions are enabling cardiologists to successfully treat many patients with completely blocked heart arteries who were previously considered unsuitable for intervention, experts said at the inauguration of the 12th live summit of the Indo Japanese CTO Club here on Friday.

The three-day conference was inaugurated by A.B. Mehta, senior interventional cardiologist at Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai.

Dr. Mehta said that the treatment of Chronic Total Occlusions (CTO) has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade and that patients who were once referred directly for bypass surgery or left untreated because of procedural complexity can now be treated successfully using advanced catheter-based techniques.

Organising Secretary and course director N. Prathap Kumar said the summit brings together some of the world’s leading CTO specialists to share contemporary approaches for managing complex coronary blockages.

A major highlight of the summit is the live transmission of 15 complex coronary interventions from leading cardiac centres across India, Japan, Europe and the United States.

Scientific discussions focussed on contemporary CTO strategies, advanced guidewire techniques, microcatheter technologies, antegrade and retrograde approaches, and imaging-guided coronary interventions.

Management of heavily calcified blockages, crossing complex lesions and improving procedural safety in difficult coronary interventions were part of the discussions.

Special sessions will also address challenging patient groups, including those with severe heart failure, chronic kidney disease and previous bypass surgery.

More than 800 cardiologists, interventional specialists, fellows and trainees from India and abroad are participating in the three-day summit. The summit will conclude on Sunday