News

Get in early to avoid missing out on visiting beautiful Queenstown for our 2022 ASM in August.

The 2022 IRSA Registrars Conference will take place on the Sunshine Coast of Australia on the weekend of 19-20th November 2022.

ASADA provides Senior Active Doctors with a voice and advocates on issues of concern to them.

The Interventional Radiology Society of Australasia Executive in conjunction with the Annual Scientific Meeting Organising Committee, would like to invite submission of abstracts on original work, for consideration at the IRSA Annual Scientific meeting taking place in Queenstown from 09 – 11 August 2022. Abstracts are invited from RANZCR accredited Registrar / IR Fellows or from Nurses / Radiographers. The Call for Abstracts will close on 24th June 2022.

Expressions of Interest are open for the role of ASM Convenor for the 2023 ASM.

IRSA have recently added two areas of practice to the Doctor Finder directory on the website – Phlebology and Medico-Legal. If you would like to add these specialities to your profile to be included to be displayed publicly on the online Directory, please log in to the website and update your profile.

CIRSE will once again support its junior members by giving them the chance to receive free registration for the CIRSE 2022 Annual Congress by applying for the CIRSE 2022 IR Trainee Support Programme. Attending the biggest European IR meeting will help young IRs deepen their knowledge, meet leading professionals in the field and gain hands-on experience on the newest IR devices.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has continued longer than all of us expected, CIRSE would like to learn how IRs are dealing with the recurring phases of the pandemic. CIRSE have designed a survey to assess routines during active phases of the pandemic and during recovery phases and would like to ask you to take less than 5 minutes to complete it and support your specialty.

We are pleased to provide a draft program for the upcoming 2022 ASM. We have secured an excellent international and local faculty of presenters for the scientific program. The New Zealand Government has announced that its border will open for Australian’s from July, which is excellent news for the August ASM. We look forward to seeing you in all in Queenstown in August this year.

The IRSA Financial Reports have now been finalised. Members can review the 2021 Financial documents by logging into the Members Only section of the website and clicking on the AGM and Financial information page.

Trainee Case Competition Is Open for submission of cases by April 1 and GEST 2022 Scholarships Available for Trainees

To renew, please log in to your profile on the IRSA website and pay your membership invoice -

Recorded information sessions available for viewing

Cook Medical are proud to once again conduct their series of three VISTA workshops for the Advanced Trainees/IR Fellows of 2022 across Australia and New Zealand. 

Final communication materials for the 1 November 2021 changes to MBS varicose vein items have now been published on MBS Online.

The Government is currently undertaking an extensive revision of the prostheses list (PL), scheduled for completion in February 2022. This involves removing coverage for some miscellaneous products but importantly a proposed expansion of the scope of the list to cover non implanted medical devices. There are a couple of proposed deletions which will impact on IR.

TROG Cancer Research is hosting its inaugural TROG Concept Development Workshop (CDW). This half-day workshop will be hosted in a virtual format on Friday 03 December 2021 from 9:00am to 12:30pm with mentors from TROG Scientific Committee and other invited experts.

The Australian Society of Ophthalmologists (ASO) has engaged the public and doctors through the campaign to date, however much more work is needed to continue this campaign and grow the momentum required to Send The Eagle Home.

The ASM scientific program sessions are being edited and will be available for all ASM delegates to view within the next two weeks.

9 - 11 August - The QT Hotel, Queenstown

We would like to advise that 22.5 RANZCR CPD points can be claimed for attendance at the IRSA 2021 ASM - Interventional Oncology held 29 June – 1 July 2021.

The IRSA Gold Medal is the highest accolade to be awarded by IRSA. This award acknowledges significant contribution to promotion, teaching, research, and overall advancement of the specialty of Interventional Radiology (IR) in Australia and New Zealand. Professor Buckenham was presented this most prestigious award at the IRSA ASM on 30 June 2021.

IRSA are pleased to advise that winner of the IRSA 2021 Registrar Abstract Prize is Dr Nicholas Cheung for his submission of Stability of Doxorubicin in Radiocontrast Medium for Use in Conventional TACE Procedures.

The IRSA Executive Committee Election for the period 2021 - 2023 took place at the IRSA AGM 30 June 2021.

Did you miss a satellite symposium at ET 2021 or want to revisit a topic of special interest to you? Remember that all industry content, including the seven comprehensive satellite symposia hosted by the most important players in the field, remain available free of charge via the congress platform!

On behalf of its members the Council of Procedural Specialists have provided a response on 7 June 2021 to the ACCC in relation the Draft Determination regarding Honeysuckle Health.

We are pleased to announce that Expressions of Interest (EOI) are now open for a new position within the ASM organising committee– ASM Junior Convenor.

The Hon Emma Hurst MP NSW gave notice in Parliament recognising Adenomyosis awareness month and called for changes to out-of-pocket expenses related to having an MRI to diagnose Adenomyosis. 

Due to popular demand, IRSA members can now access the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (JVIR) online for $55AUD for the year.

The Australian recommendations for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma were developed by more than sixty expert clinicians with the principle aim of improving the standard of care provided to patients suffering with this condition in Australia. This online, unabridged version of the recommendations provides detailed background information including technical notes.

An information pamphlet developed by BSIR and RCR has been released to assist with providing information around Women working in Interventional Radiology

In 2016, IRSA applied to MSAC to restore public funding for a selected patient group likely to benefit from early vertebroplasty. The application was based on the VAPOUR trial. We are pleased to announce MSAC has supported the application for the patient subgroup in the VAPOUR trial who showed greatest benefit from vertebroplasty. The decision is published on the MSAC website as a Public Summary Document (PSD).

In March 2019, the Interventional Radiology Committee released a white paper on Interventional Radiology for consultation to College members and other key stakeholders. The document was developed with the purpose of informing the College membership and stakeholder groups of the current and long-term positioning of IR and INR in Australia and New Zealand.

IRSA would like to inform it’s members of the latest TGA statement on paclitaxel-coated products used in the peripheral arteries.

IRSA would like to highlight the recent update on the consensus guidelines on anticoagulants in interventional radiology published in JVIR. These are excellent and comprehensive reviews to help guide practice relevant to all IR's. Davidson JC et al. (2019). Society of Interventional Radiology Consensus Guidelines for the Periprocedural Management of Thrombotic and Bleeding Risk in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Image-Guided Interventions-Part I: Review of Anticoagulation Agents and Clinical Considerations. Journal [...]