Dr. Tom Forbes, Memorial’s chief of pediatric cardiac services, is the driving force behind the Catheterization RISk in Pediatrics (CRISP) registry, a database of over 10,000 cases that help interventional cardiologists predict risk and guide treatment plans for congenital heart patients undergoing procedures in cardiac catheterization laboratories. Connected to that, he is also the co-founder of the Congenital Cardiovascular Interventional Study Consortium (CCISC), which works with the FDA to obtain medical device approval in the U.S.
“CRISP assists in predicting when a physician is likely to encounter a serious adverse event in the catheterization lab, allowing the interventionist to hopefully avoid the event or be better prepared if it should occur,” said Dr. Forbes. “We’re saving lives by predicting circumstances that are likely to arise and expediting care if they do happen.”
Currently America’s fastest-growing registry, CRISP is based at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and incorporates information from 20 congenital cardiac centers nationwide. Additionally, it helps get devices approved more expediently in the U.S. through a strong collaboration between industry, physicians and the FDA.
