Industry-sponsored satellite symposia are educational, and some offer CME credit. This program is not a part of the official ACEP17 education program as planned by ACEP’s Educational Meetings Committee.

The Multi-disciplinary PERT: A New Standard of Care for Acute Pulmonary Embolism

Tuesday, 6–8 a.m.

Registration, breakfast, and program

Marriott Marquis/Marquis Ballroom, Salon 4

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a life-threatening condition that affects people of all ages and health statuses, from the most fit athletes to the most infirm patients. Detection of PE, “the great masquerader,” is challenging because its signs and symptoms are often subtle and mimic those of other disease states. Once PE is diagnosed, clinicians have little guidance in choosing from the wide array of therapies available because:

• No accepted algorithm exists to guide diagnostic and therapeutic decision making.
• Outcomes data and evaluation for available therapies are lacking.
• Care rendered to PE patients is fragmented among different clinical services.
• Assessment of bleeding and other risks remains daunting.

Long-term effects of PE are poorly understood, though they can be severely debilitating. In the face of these challenges, multidisciplinary rapid-response programs—pulmonary embolism response teams, or PERTs—have been established at many institutions across the United States and abroad. PERTs promote coordination among specialists who care for PE patients. The PERT initiative has gained significant traction, leading to the establishment of a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving outcomes for PE through collaboration in research, educational programs, management protocols, and dissemination of information about PE among member institutions, as well as increasing public awareness of PE and its prevention.

PERT programs hold the promise to improve interdisciplinary communication and collaboration, facilitate timely decision making to enhance care, and enable systematic collection and evaluation of data related to PE treatment and outcomes.

The goals of this satellite symposium are to improve PE diagnosis, care coordination, and treatment while expanding knowledge of the underlying mechanisms and long-term follow-up strategies for patients with PE. In addition, the patient perspective will be presented.

Sponsor: National PERT Consortium, Inc.
Grantor: Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.