ISVAR 2017: David’s trip diary

Created - 01.02.2017

Dr Chris Day, Mr Laszlo Papp and I landed in Kolkata on a hot hazy humid morning having been invited to speak the 19th Indian society of vascular and interventional Radiology (ISVIR) Congress.

In Victorian times Kolkata or Calcutta, was once the capital of India and this can be seen in the old colonial buildings in the centre of the city. The immediate impression on the drive to the hotel from the airport was a vibrant, chaotic colourful city where the use of the horn is integral to weaving in and out of cars, hand pulled rickshaws motorised rickshaws and pedestrians all moving along what is essentially a motorway.

The three of us experienced as much of the culture as possible with a Mishty tour, evening cruise down the Ganges watching the  people getting ready for the festival of Lord Shiva and the highlight, a guided walk through the backstreets of North Kolkata with our knowledgeable explorer guide Rick… of Calcutta walks.

Dr Shuvro Roy Choudry, the organiser of the scientific committee had enlisted his wife Shree to show us some of her favourite haunts with a tour of the ‘Mishty’ delights of Kolkata. These sweet or dessert shops combine sugar, syrup and condensed milk into delightful super sweet treats. If I wasn’t diabetic before the eight puddings I may well have been after. Chris managed a stonking 12 portions which was above and beyond.

Shuvro had warned us about ‘Bengali time’. Meetings in the region rarely started before 10,30am but lasted late into the evening. Suited and booted for our first speaking engagements on the Thursday morning with Mr Papp opening the whole show it was still a bit of a shock to see the stage still being built at the 8.am scheduled start. Unperturbed we sat sipping coffee until Mr Papp was given the green light at 10 am with Chris and I swiftly following. The main stage was huge with AV facilities to rival our own BSIR and there was a similarity to the set up at LINC with multiple inputs on one large screen.

EVAR in many places is still in its infancy in India and due to its predominantly private system there is certainly a divide in what the people can hope for in health care. Still it is impressive that in some centres they are doing amazing work in hybrid TEVAR and fenestrated EVAR. Chris and I gave talks on EVAR planning and simple EVAR video sessions and workshops with Dr Day and I on EVAR Planning and with Ram Kasthuri on EVAR deployment using the Simbionix virtual simulation stations.

Being a lover of Indian food the lunches and dinners provided to faculty were fantastic. Four different types of Dhaal, vegetarian curries with cauliflower a strong favourite. The fish dishes…… delicious and the very spicy mutton curry on the bone amazing. All I can say is it was a good job the hotel had a 32 meter pool and a gym!

The 5 days were soon up. Did I learn anything? The seminal lecture on research in intervention by Prof Yasuki Arai from Japan was thought provoking and well worth a look on line. Thyroid nodule ablation is the new big thing. Would I go again? Absolutely, the people are dignified and friendly, the organisers are welcoming and delegates enthusiastic with a thirst for knowledge. 

David Wells University Hospital of North Midlands