The 10th Jubilee Bulgarian Bifurcation and Complex Coronary Interventions Course was held during the period 28th-30th January 2022. It was a special edition, as this was the eleventh consecutive year that the course has been organized. It has grown rapidly through time and more and more interventional cardiologists have become interested in bifurcations and this particular event, as the biggest professionals in the field present their opinions and advice to the attendees. What is unique is that all discussions are held in a very informal and friendly atmosphere which allows fellows to interact effectively with renowned experts.
On Friday, 28th January, there were no offline attendees, only the lectors, who commented on a live case at Acibadem City Clinic Tokuda. Being online did not stop the attendees to vividly participate in the discussion by asking intriguing questions to the lectors. Via the online platform, our team has organized, the viewers were able to communicate with the lectors in the hall and in the operating room. As moderators, Prof. Vasil Velchev and Dr. Nikolay Stoyanov shared their experience and knowledge in the discussions by answering many of the audience questions with great detail.
The second day was Saturday (29th January) when the official opening ceremony was held. There were both online and offline participants and lectors. Session II: Bifurcations – EBC in BBC, inspired the first heated discussions amongst the participants. The online lectors had their power points pre-recorded and were live connected in Zoom for consultation and comments. Interesting point of views on bifurcations were expressed by the honorable Course Director – Prof. Yves Louvard. Another intriguing conversation was started by Prof. Robert Gil, the international Course Director, who participated online. Even though he was not present in the hall, his presentation and thoughtful comments brought value to the overall experience of the Course. The educational part of the event did not lose its value even while being hybrid, which meant that the attendees were more than pleased with the outcomes of the Course’s program.
“It is an honor to be at BBC. Hope BBC will be even more successful and lead in the interventional cardiology world.”
Thach Nguyen MD FACC FSCAI
During the brakes, the present cardiologists were sharing the experience they’ve had for the past year with bifurcations, met with old friends and enjoyed fresh coffee and snacks.
The afternoon sessions consisted of more live cases performed by renowned operators as Prof. George Sianos. Prof. Dobrin Vasilev and Assoc. Prof. Valery Gelev participated in complicated operations and showed incredible professionalism handling them. There were again comments from the panel and the online stream. More interesting cases of bifurcations were shown and there was thorough analysis conducted by the panelists. This is one of the features that makes this event outstand from other cardiological congresses, as adding live cases in the program brings extreme value. The live operations may be crucial for educating newly developed bifurcation operators.
Last day was Sunday, when real cases with more specifics were presented. The lectors showed cases they have worked on, where either something went wrong or there was a complication emerging. This session sparkled many intense discussion and interesting points from professionals all around the world.
