Introduction

I received my Registered Physician Vascular Interpretation (RPVI) certification shortly after graduating from Vascular and Interventional Radiology Fellowship at the world-renowned Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute while beginning my IR Attending journey at a tertiary cancer center – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). My love for treating and caring for patients with arterial disease propelled my need to open a vascular lab even in a place that traditionally did not accommodate the assessment and care of such disease processes. I did not know where to turn or what to do to start this vascular lab as there was so very little online and published. I knew I was qualified to start one but had no idea how. Painstakingly, with the help of the director of ultrasound Van Castor and support from Leadership – Rennie Mohabir and Stephen Solomon, I pieced together a lot of the information within the following articles in order to create our thriving vascular lab. A lot of the information gained was common sense, but even more, was not. It is my sincere desire to demystify the process of starting a vascular lab so that those wishing to do so will have a more straightforward and “less guessing” process. Authors within these articles include practicing IR physicians, Registered Vascular Technologists (RVTs), lab directors, innovators, such as Jill Sommerset who described pedal acceleration time as an endpoint for revascularization for critical limb ischemia, and trailblazers such as James Benenati. Authors represent hospital-based as well as private-based practices. All of the authors are directly engaged with the vascular lab experience on a day to day basis. Nothing within these articles is theoretical and out of touch. It is all practical. I have included in the articles personal experiences and “how we do it” sections, for example in teaching Residents, marketing, and office-based scenarios. I have also included study resources for accreditations, CMS approved indications for studies, protocols, diagnostic criteria at a glance for disease entity evaluations, coding and billing, and even complex matters such automation of reports by one of the most brilliant people I know, Krishna Juluru. It is my hope that this special edition to help you set up and run a successful vascular lab will set you on a journey towards a more fulfilling and influential practice; and however that journey, comes about, straight or winding, I hope it will be a rewarding and happy one.