Paris in May: the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre (home of the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo), the Arc de Triomph, the Palace of Versailles, blossoms in bloom, young lovers walking hand-in-hand, and EuroPCR.

EuroPCR is an international conference focusing on percutaneous cardiovascular interventions. EuroPCR™s roots stretch back to 1983, with the first European course with live case demonstrations hosted by Professor Jean Marco in Toulouse. In 2000, the symposium became the Paris Course on Revascularization (PCR). The next year, PCR merged with EuroCVS, which was held in Rotterdam under the directorship of Dr. Patrick Serruys. EuroPCR has grown to become the largest conference of its kind in the world, with 10,800 registrants from 95 countries in 2005.

EuroPCR 2005 was held May 24th-27th at the Palais des Congres in Paris, France. Interestingly, the majority of the lectures were presented in English. Headphones were made available to attendees, with real-time translation in a number of different languages. In all, EuroPCR 05 had 544 invited faculty members, representing every continent (except Antarctica).

The EuroPCR Nurse and Technician Sessions have grown tremendously, becoming a fundamental part of the overall program. For the first time this year, the Nurse and Technician Sessions were organized and presented entirely by nurses and technicians. The Nurse and Technicians Sessions were presented over three days, with a focus topic for each day: cardiac, congenital/ valve/peripheral, and miscellaneous (which included EP and CT/MRI).

Cath Lab Digest (CLD) consulting editor Sandy Watson, BN, RN, NFESC, was the course coordinator for the Nurse and Technician Sessions. In addition to his duties as a course coordinator, Sandy lectured on How to treat in-stent restenosis and What is patent foramen ovale (PFO)?: When and how to treat it with closure techniques.

Kenneth Gorski, RN, RCIS, FSICP, the Assistant Manager of the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac Cath Labs, CLD consulting editor, and Secretary for the Society of Invasive Cardiovascular Professionals (SICP), served as a session moderator. Ken also presented the lectures Drug-eluting stents in percutaneous coronary intervention: Indications and patient selection, New devices for the treatment of chronic total occlusions of the peripheral arteries and IVUS and virtual histology.

Marsha Holton, RN, BS, CCRN, RCIS, FSICP, co-founder of Cardiovascular Orientation Programs, CLD consulting editor, and SICP Education Council member, also served as a session moderator. Marsha presented Chronic total occlusions: indications and interventional techniques, Management of the critically ill patient in the cath lab, Ergonomics in the cath lab, and Congenital abnormalities.

Other topics presented were on carotid artery stenting, the use of conscious sedation, percutaneous valve repair, the use of intracardiac echo for congenital interventions, planning and carrying out nurse research projects (in the European Union), and management of post procedure complications. Mary Leahy, RN, presented some exciting time-to-treatment data from the United Kingdom. Representing a potential major change in acute myocardial infarction care in the United Kingdom, the West London primary PCI data showed a four-fold reduction in mortality, as well as a significant cost savings over primary thrombolysis.

Catheterization and EP lab education and training dominated much of the panel discussion during the Friday session. Kim Salin, RN, and colleagues from Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada, presented Cardiac electrophysiology nursing competency, discussing orientation standards and competency checklists for new employees. The final lecture of the EuroPCR 05 Nurse and Technician Sessions was from Vincent Gatt, RN, from St. Luke™s Hospital in Malta. He presented Guidelines for training cath lab nurses and technicians: where do we stand? These two important lectures opened up a lengthy panel discussion on education and training differences for cath lab nurses and technicians across the globe. American panelists Ken Gorski and Marsha Holton discussed the Registered Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist (RCIS) credential as a standardized knowledge assessment tool, and the role of professional societies in developing education, training, and orientation standards. Vince Gatt closed the sessions with a call to form a EuroSICP, dedicated to meeting the needs of the non-physician cath and EP staff in Europe.

The nurse and technician sessions at PCR provide a rich, multi-cultural learning experience. Not only do we learn about the topics being discussed, but we see how these topics are being addressed by colleagues from a wide variety of countries. The presentations show us how each country is working on increasing its professional standards. The presentations inspire us to learn more, and then to pass this on to those who can benefit from it. It does one good to sit in a room surrounded by colleagues from every corner of the planet, sharing their skills with others. We are able to see ourselves not as a struggling nurse/tech in a lab somewhere, but as a member of an international group of experts, working towards a common goal of efficient, safe, and effective interventional cardiology procedures, wherever they are performed.

If anyone feels that they could benefit from a dose of Paris in the spring, be sure to include a few days at the PCR nurse/technician sessions. They will show you things about your profession and your colleagues that you won™t see anywhere else.

Sandy, Ken, and Marsha are working on the Nurse and Technician Session for EuroPCR 2006. We look forward to returning to Paris and further collaboration wtih our international colleagues. We hope to see you there.