Political issues in endovascular surgery

"Political issues" may determine the relative progress if not the ultimate success and acceptance of endovascular surgery as much as its intrinsic merits. These issues include turf battles, commercialization of newly developing technologies, unethical advertising, and self-serving reporting practices in presenting clinical results. Acceptable indications, methods of evaluating results, standardized reporting practices, appropriate "gold standards" for comparison, and controlled trials (without premature release) are recommended, as well as an emphasis on the future need for proper training and credentialing and quality assurance programs.