Previewing Miami Valves 2025
Miami Valves offers innovative topics for specialists using transcatheter therapies to treat valvular and structural heart disease.
The world’s leading interventional and structural cardiologists will gather Jan. 30-Feb. 1 for three days of groundbreaking discussions at the Miami Valves 2025 conference, hosted by the International Medicine Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Following a successful 2024 event, which drew nearly 400 guests, the 2025 edition promises to be the largest and most impactful yet. Last year’s conference featured experts from 18 countries and 27 U.S. states. The 2025 conference will be no exception, with sessions taught by Miller School faculty and worldwide leaders in the field.
“Miami Valves was created to educate doctors in this new field of structural heart disease,” said Miami Valves director Eduardo de Marchena, M.D., professor of cardiovascular medicine and associate dean for international medicine at the Miller School. “Here, attendees can expect collaboration from worldwide experts in the specialty, while diving into new practices and technologies that are advancing the field.”
New Program Offerings
The schedule is filled with new and exciting topics. Conference attendees will be welcomed with a session that will focus on the procedure that launched structural heart disease as a field, transcatheter aortic valve replacement. They will go on a journey in which significant innovators in the procedure will lecture on how the field took shape, the obstacles they faced moving technology forward and how this procedure has become the preferred alternative to surgical valve replacement.
The symposium’s second day will include a program favorite when experts review innovations not yet approved by the FDA. Treatments for the coronary artery will be a big emphasis this year and attendees will see major advances in imaging and pre-procedural planning with the help of artificial intelligence.
“There are new advances and technologies that are in the progress of either very early human or animal trials,” Dr. de Marchena said. “This session is always a lot of fun because you can see the future by seeing what’s being put together.”
Another addition to the upcoming meeting will be a special segment on two new devices that have been approved for treating the tricuspid valve, an area previously lacking in dedicated technologies.
Impact of Artificial Intelligence
During each Miami Valves session, artificial intelligence (AI) will be a recurring topic. The technology continues to change and challenge the health care landscape across all specialties. AI is already being used in the field to assist physicians in charting patient information and diagnostics such as CAT scans of the chest and for more accurate heart readings.
“When planning out this conference, we always want to bring current topics and challenges that participants will find valuable,” Dr. de Marchena said. “In the case of AI, we’re at a place where we have embraced this new technology in some areas while still learning how to best use it to its full potential.”
The conference will also touch on proactive AI strategies. Sessions will look into how cardiologists can plan procedures by using AI models of a patient’s anatomy to determine optimal devices to use in the heart or valves. During the coronary artery treatment sessions, there will also be an AI focus on major advances in imaging and pre-procedural planning with AI.
“The role of AI in cardiovascular interventions is pivotal, enhancing clinical decision-making, advancing pre-procedure planning for coronary, structural and peripheral interventions and accelerating device R-&-D and regulatory approvals through virtual clinical trials,” said Yiannis Chatzizisis, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and chief of cardiology at the Miller School. “Additionally, AI fosters education and training, reshaping the future of cardiovascular care.”
International Cardiovascular Collaboration
Part of what makes Miami Valves so unique is the opportunity for international collaborations. Among the expert attendees will be Peter de Jaegere, M.D., Ph.D., from Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, who will be honored at the event.
Other International thought leaders include Eberhard Grube, M.D., from Germany, Nicolas Van Mieghem, Ph.D., from the Netherlands, Fabio de Brito, M.D., Ph.D., from Brazil and Antonio Dager, M.D., from Colombia. Renowned speakers from the U.S. include Igor Palacios, M.D., William O’Neill, M.D., Ignacio Inglessis-Azuaje, M.D., John Lassala, M.D., Ph.D., and Renu Virmani, M.D.
There will be a session with the Society of Latin American Interventional Cardiology to highlight challenging cases and new technology that may not be available in the United States. Past and current trainees in the International Medicine Institute will gain additional experience, as they will have an opportunity to showcase their research and clinical progress during an abstract poster session.
“This conference is substantial but intimate enough for personal interactions with leading experts,” Dr. de Marchena said. “It’s an opportunity to gain new skills, connect with peers and do so in the warmth and hospitality of Miami.”
Tags: Dr. Eduardo de Marchena, Dr. Yiannis Chatzizisis, Miami Valves, TAVR