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Purpose: To examine the impact of targeted efforts to increase the number of female speakers at the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) by reporting gender trends for invited faculty in 2017/2018 vs 2016., Materials and Methods: Faculty rosters for the 2016, 2017, and 2018 SIR ASMs were stratified by gender to quantify female representation at plenary sessions, categorical courses, symposia, self-assessment modules, and "meet-the-expert" sessions. Keynote events, scientific abstract presentations, and award ceremonies were excluded. In 2017, the SIR Annual Meeting Committee issued requirements for coordinators to invite selected women as speakers. Session coordinators are responsible for issuing speaker invitations, and invited speakers have the option to decline., Results: Years 2017 and 2018 showed increases in female speaker representation, with women delivering 13% (89 of 687) and 14% (85 of 605) of all assigned presentations, compared with 9% in 2016 (46 of 514; P = .03 and P = .01, respectively). Gender diversity correlated with the gender of the session coordinator(s). When averaged over a 3-year period, female speakers constituted 7% of the speaker roster (112 of 1,504 presentations) for sessions led by an all-male coordinator team, compared with 36% (108 of 302) for sessions led by at least 1 female coordinator (P < .0001). Results of the linear regression model confirmed the effect of coordinator team gender composition (P < .0001)., Conclusions: Having a woman as a session coordinator increased female speaker participation, which suggests that the inclusion of more women as coordinators is one mechanism for achieving gender balance at scientific meetings., (Copyright © 2019 SIR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To investigate the current state of gender diversity among invited coordinators at the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Annual Scientific Meeting and to compare the academic productivity of female interventional radiologists to that of invited male coordinators., Materials and Methods: Faculty rosters for the SIR Annual Scientific Meetings from 2015 to 2017 were stratified by gender to quantify female representation among those asked to lead and coordinate podium sessions. To quantify academic productivity and merit, H-index, publications, and authorship by females over a 6-year period (2012-2017) were statistically compared to that of recurring male faculty., Results: From 2015 to 2017, women held 7.1% (9/126), 4.3%, (8/188), and 13.7% (27/197) of the available coordinator positions for podium sessions, with no representation at the plenary sessions, and subject matter expertise was concentrated in economics and education. Academic productivity of the top quartile of published female interventional radiologists was statistically similar to that of the invited male faculty (H-index P = .722; total publications P = .689; and authorship P = .662)., Conclusions: This study found that senior men dominate the SIR Annual Scientific Meeting, with few women leading or coordinating the podium sessions, despite their established academic track record., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Purpose: To evaluate expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) encapsulated stents for the treatment of aortic aneurysms with emphasis on the blood and tissue-material interactions., Materials and Methods: Experimental aortic aneurysms were created in dogs by enlarging the aortic lumen with an abdominal fascial patch. Twenty animals underwent endoluminal repair after allowing the surgically created aneurysm to heal for 2 months prior to transluminal aneurysmal exclusion. The device used consisted of an 8-cm-long ePTFE encapsulated stent graft. The animals were killed in groups at 1 week and at 1, 2.25, 6, and 12 months. Specimens were processed for histologic and luminal surface studies., Results: Before the animals were killed, aortography demonstrated two thrombosed aortae in the 6-month group and two endoleaks in the 12-month group. Endothelialized neointima extended into the proximal and distal portions of the prosthetic lumen, with minimal cell coverage in the center of the graft. The overall percent surface area covered by endothelialized neointima was 22% +/- 6% at 6 months and 18% +/- 10% by 1 year (P = .75). Histologic examination demonstrated minimal tissue penetration into the ePTFE., Conclusion: Transluminal exclusion of abdominal aortic aneurysms by encapsulated stent-graft is easily accomplished. With this device, tissue coverage and penetration of the stent graft is limited and does not tend to increase with time.