Evidence-practice gaps in PCI: why do they occur and how can we eliminate them to improve patient outcomes?

Dr Arwin Saleh Mangkuanom is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at the National Cardiovascular Centre Harapan Kita Hospital, Indonesia. He performs over 1,000 cardiac procedures annually, including more than 400 PCIs, PTMC, coiling, septal ablation, and other advanced interventions. He earned his medical degree from Sriwijaya University in 2005 and completed his cardiology training at the University of Indonesia in 2014. He further specialised in interventional cardiology through a fellowship at Sarawak Heart Centre, Malaysia, and completed additional training in rotablation and IVUS in Miyazaki, Japan. Dr Saleh is board-certified by the Indonesian Heart Association (FIHA) and is a fellow of the Indonesian Society of Interventional Cardiology (ISIC), the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (FSCAI), and the ASEAN Federation of Cardiology (FAsCC). Actively involved in research and education, he has presented at numerous international conferences including TCTAP, CCT Kobe, ASMIHA, and WECOC. His academic interests include contrast-induced nephropathy prevention and the use of intravascular imaging in acute coronary syndromes.

Prof Javier Escaned is Head of Section (Interventional Cardiology Section) at Hospital Clinico San Carlos / Complutense University (Madrid, Spain). He trained in the United Kingdom as Specialist in Cardiology and obtained his PhD in The Netherlands. Author of >700 indexed scientific articles on interventional cardiology, imaging and physiology (h-index 100) and over 30 years of experience as PCI operator, he regularly lectures and performs live cases at major scientific and educational meetings. He is a recipient of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Silver Medal and the Andreas Grüntzig Award for his contributions to the fiedl fo Interventional Cardiology. Main areas of expertise include complex PCI, intracoronary diagnostics and functional coronary angiography. His track record in coronary physiology comprises being investigator on pioneer FFR trials like DEFER (1998), collaborator with Justin Davies in the validation and clinical implementation of iFR, and developer of new tools for the assessment of coronary microcirculation. Editorial roles include Deputy Editor EHJ, Advisory Editor Eurointervention, editor of the textbooks “Coronary Stenosis: Imaging, Structure and Physiology” and “Physiological Assessment of Coronary Stenoses and the Microcirculation". Recent board positions include EAPCI board / Education Committee Chair, ESC WG Coronary Pathophysiology and Microcirculation, EuroCTO Board. Recent trials as Principal Investigator include ADVISE II, DEFINE FLAIR, SYNTAX II, PIONEER IV, Cerebral-Coronary-Connection (C3), DCR4Contrast, INOCA LongCovid and AID ANGIO. Additional interests are philosophy and music.

Dr Jiang Ming Fam is a Senior Consultant in the Department of Cardiology at the National Heart Centre, Singapore (NHCS). He completed his advanced specialist training in the field of cardiology following which he completed his advanced subspecialty training in Interventional Cardiology in Thorax Centre, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands in June 2015. He defended his PhD thesis titled “Bioresorbable polymer coated metallic stents and fully bioresorbable scaffolds: Benefits and limitations in different coronary lesion subsets -Clinical and intravascular imaging results” in May 2018. He is currently a full time interventional cardiologist and has participated in interventional conferences such as ASIA-PCR and NHCS CTO Live as a live case operator since 2014. Dr Fam is actively involved in education and research. He is a lecturer and module coordinator in the Singapore Polytechnic Diploma in Biomedical Science (Cardiac Technology Course) and is part of the faculty of DUKE-NUS Medical School, Lee Kong Chian Medical School and the Singhealth residency program. His research interests include intravascular physiology and imaging as well as clinical outcomes in patients with percutaneous coronary intervention in complex lesion subsets such as bifurcation and left main intervention. He is an active investigator in multiple clinical trials and has presented his research findings in local and international conferences. He is the first/coauthor of numerous research papers in local and international peer reviewed journals and is also an ad hoc reviewer for various journals in interventional and general cardiology.

Dr Justin Davies is a board member of Monaco Cardio at the Princess Grace Hospital, Monaco, and an interventional cardiologist with over 15 years of experience as a leading educator in the field. His clinical and academic career was established at Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, where he built an international reputation for innovation in cardiovascular medicine. Over the course of his career, he has successfully mentored 15 PhD students, published more than 500 peer-reviewed papers — including landmark studies in the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet — and holds 20 patents in cardiovascular medicine and technology. He was the co-principal investigator of the DEFINE-FLAIR study, which helped establish iFR (Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio), a diagnostic technique he invented, as a globally adopted standard in coronary physiology. His work reflects a unique blend of scientific innovation, academic leadership, and clinical excellence. In addition to his research and academic commitments, Justin is CEO of Cerebria AI, where he leads the development of next-generation AI-powered cardiovascular imaging and physiology tools. Under his leadership, Cerebria AI is advancing cutting-edge solutions that integrate artificial intelligence with frontline cardiology to enhance clinical decision-making and patient outcomes. Combining deep clinical expertise with entrepreneurial vision, he continues to guide international ventures through funding, regulatory pathways, and commercialization, while remaining committed to transforming cardiovascular care on a global scale.

Dr. Marco Lombardi is an interventional cardiologist at the Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria of Alessandria, Italy. He obtained his medical degree from Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome in 2018. He completed his cardiology residency at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Rome, Italy) and pursued an interventional cardiology fellowship at Hospital Clínico San Carlos / Complutense University (Madrid, Spain). Dr. Lombardi also served as a research fellow at the VCU Pauley Heart Center (Richmond, USA) and is currently completing a PhD at the University of Genoa (Genoa, Italy). His main research interests focus on complex PCI, intracoronary physiology and imaging.

Pannipa Suwannasom, MD, PhD is an interventional cardiologist at the North Region Heart Center, Chiang Mai University. She graduated with First-Class Honors from Chiang Mai University, Thailand, earning her MD in 2005. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine from 2006 to 2009, and subsequently pursued fellowships in Cardiology & Interventional Cardiology from 2009 to 2012 at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital. After completing her clinical training, Dr. Suwannasom focused on cardiovascular research as a Research Fellow at the Thoraxcenter, Erasmus University, Rotterdam in 2014. She later obtained her PhD in Cardiovascular Research from the University of Amsterdam in 2017, under the mentorship of Prof. Patrick W. Serruys and Prof. Robbert J. de Winter. Her primary research interests include intracoronary imaging (IVUS, OCT), coronary physiology, and coronary CT angiography. Dr. Suwannasom has been a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) since 2016 and was a member of the EAPCI Women Committee from 2016 to 2018, supporting initiatives for women in challenging countries. Since 2022, she has served as an International Editorial Board Member of the Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions and has been involved as a Council Member of the Cardiovascular Intervention Association of Thailand (CIAT) since 2020.

Dr Sidney Lo graduated with honours Sydney University 1988. Internship/RMO/basic physician training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Sydney 1988-1993. Cardiology training Alfred Hospital 1994-1995. Senior registrar Royal North Shore Hospital Feb1996-June 1997. Stanford University, USA Interventional fellowship July 1997-Jun 1998. Faculty member Stanford University cardiology Jul 1998-March 2000. Director CCU Liverpool Hospital Sydney April 2000-2012. Senior staff cardiologist and Director of cardiac catheterisation laboratories 2012-2023. Director of Cardiology since 2024 and Clinical lead TAVI programme. Interests include Complex PCI (including CTO-PCI), novel PCI techniques, STEMI-shock, ACS, Antithrombotic therapies (Antiplatelet and NOAC), Intracoronary imaging and physiology, structural interventions. Immediate past chair, Interventional council CSANZ. ACOR board member. ANZET convener 2019-2025. Co-convener EPIC since 2006 (now Sydney Valves and Sydney Interventions), Director (Australia) APCTO club, Co-director ANZCCT and ANZ-CTO.

A medical doctor. Features in 7 videos on Cerebria. Tian Hai Koh generally speaks on Complex Percutaneous Coronary Interventions and Live Cases.