The SOLACI-CACI 2021 Congress, an annual conference on cardiovascular intervention in South America, was held online from August 2-6, 2021. As the largest cardiovascular annual conference in South America, SOLACI has attracted thousands of experts in cardiovascular intervention from South American countries and rest parts of the world. The special session CBS@SOLACI-CACI organized by Professor Shaoliang Chen of Nanjing First Hospital invited well-known experts to discuss topics of interventional treatment of complex bifurcation lesions guided by physiological assessment and coronary imaging via live demonstration and presented a wonderful academic feast.

On August 4, Professor Shaoliang Chen and Junjie Zhang from Nanjing First Hospital demonstrated one live case of complex coronary bifurcation lesions to the SOLACI-CACI 2021 Congress.  Angiographically  confirmed a surgical high risk patient with
multiple lesions complicated with severe calcificationin in another hospital 4 months ago. Considering advanced age, poor cardiac function and great physical burden after CABG, the family prefered medical treatment. Unfortunately, this patient came again with acute non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction 1 month ago, with left ventricular ejection fraction of 29% and NT-probNP of 15900 pg/ mL. The patient's cardiac function was extremely poor and the surgical risk was extremely high. Despite COVID-19, they came to seek non surgical opportunities.

To improve the quality of life and prolong the life of patients, Professor Shaoliang Chen and his team made a detailed plan and demonstrated the procedure live to the SOLACI-CACI 2021 Congress. According to the DEFINITION criteria of complex bifurcation lesions proposed by Professor Shaoliang Chen, anterior descending branch/first diagonal was a complex bifurcation lesion. With the guidance of intravascular ultrasound, DK Crush technology successfully performed and three Firehawk stents implanted.

Professor Alfredo E. Rodriguez, President of Argentine Society of Cardiology, highly rated the excellent performance of Department of Cardiology of Nanjing First Hospital in treating LMCAD and complex bifurcation lesions under the leadership of Professor Shaoliang Chen. The uniqueness of DK Crush technology in treating complex bifurcation lesions is fully recognized and has been recommended by the 2018 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines.

In this special session CBS@SOLACI-CACI , Professor Shaoliang Chen invited Professor Shengxian Tu from Shanghai Jiaotong University, Professor Zhen Ge from Nanjing First Hospital and Professor Ning Guo from Xi 'an Jiaotong University Affiliated First Hospital to share valuable academic lectures. Professor Tu shengxian gave an in-depth topic on the physiological evaluation of coronary bifurcation lesions, and introduced in detail the application of QFR in bifurcation lesions, an original invention from China. Professor Zhen Ge demonstrated the importance of IVUS to guide the intervention of bifurcation lesions. International multicenter RCT, ULTIMATE trial initiated in China is of great significance to promote the use of IVUS, and the ongoing DK-Crush VIII study will also provide stronger evidence for the use of IVUS in bifurcation lesions. Professor Guo Ning shared how to manage complications of bifurcation intervention, how to prevent branch occlusion by using wire and balloon techniques, how to prevent stent deformation, and how to optimize PCI stents to prevent long-term stent failure.

In-depth exchanges in this special conference setted up a good image for Chinese cardiovascular professionals to all our friends in the world.