The country’s cardiology centers have been producing subspecialists in the field of Invasive and Interventional Cardiology. To date, 11 hospitals and/or medical centers are involved in training these subspecialists in a 1 to 2-year program. And to this date, there have been no uniform standards and guidelines as to what comprises the basic and/or acceptable training outcomes for the interventionalist in training. This paper describes the development of the core curriculum for an interventional cardiovascular training program to prepare its trainees to be competent in performing invasive diagnostic and interventional cardiovascular procedures as part of comprehensive patient care. The task force for the core curriculum of the interventional training program gathered several officers and leaders of the PSCCI, the training heads of the various interventional programs in the country, as well as experts in the field of cardiology education. Through a series of meetings, consultations, and workshops, the task force laid out the template on which all the training programs would be based. Such a framework considered the international standards regarding minimum caseloads for interventional training and the peculiar situation of each training institution. International standards like the Core Cardiovascular Training Statement (COCATS 4) Task Force 10: Training in Cardiac Catheterizations and the 2020 EAPCI Core Curriculum for Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions served as the reference framework for key recommendations. A consensus was achieved that upheld the highest standards of competence without disenfranchising certain institutions due to intricacies and uniqueness of hospital set-up and training situation.

Training ; Education ; Curriculum

Pulmonary arterionevous malformation (PAVMs) are a rare disorder with an incidence of 2-3/1,000,000 population. Approximately 70% of cases are associated with Osler-Weber-Rendu Disease. This intrapulmonary malformation causes hypoxemia and dyspnea largely attributed to the right to left shunting.

We present a case of 25-year-old male who was admitted for fever and headaches with chronic history of epistaxis, hemoptysis, cyanosis and clubbing. Central cyanocis and clubbing were evident with hypoxemia of 65%. Heart sounds and peripheral pulses were normal. There was no systolic bruit noted in the lung bases. Multiple telangiectasias were seen in the truncal area and abdomen. Chest x-ray revealed multi-chambered cardiomegaly with no opacifications. CBC showed erythrocytosis with hematocrits of 0.68-0.78. Transthoracic echocardiography showed intact interatrial and interventricular septum, with contrast study suggestive of intrapulmonary shunting. CT angiography revealed PAVMs in bilateral lung fields. Pulmonary angiography demonstrated diffuse PAVMS in the left lung with 3 large PAVMs with multiple feeders > 7mm and smaller PAVMs in the Right lower lobe. The diagnosis was Multiple Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformation, Osler-Weber-Rendu Disease, Brain Abscess Left Temporoparietal area. Craniotomy with brain abscess evacuation was done. Left pneumonectomy or Right lobectomy was considered but was deemed unacceptable due to high morbidity and mortality. Endovascular coil embolization was done on the 3 large fistulas on the Left lobe. Post procedure, his arterial oxygenation improved to 96%. He has no recurrence of hemoptysis, no headaches and with less episodes of shortness of breath 2 months on follow-up. Diagnosing the complex diffuse intrapulmonary malformations requires a high index of suspicion among patients with chronic cyanosis, chronic history of bleeding, and brain abscess. Treatment of this condition and its associated complications remain a big challenge and should be highly individualized.

Human ; Male ; Adult ; Arteriovenous Malformations ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Telangiectasia, Hereditary Hemorrhagic