In this episode of the ESVS Podcast, we tackle one of medicine’s most deceptively simple challenges : agreeing on what we’re actually talking about. Vascular graft and endograft infections (VGEI) are rare, serious, and universally dreaded, but when it comes to defining them, classifying them, and reporting outcomes, it turns out the vascular world hasn’t always been speaking the same language. Safa Riahi is joined by Dr Thomas Wyss and Dr Karl Sörelius to discuss a recent international Delphi consensus that brought together 43 multidisciplinary experts to do something surprisingly difficult: agree on definitions. From the long-standing debate over early versus late infection, to the subtle but clinically important difference between graft-enteric erosion and fistula, to the brave attempt to define what “cure” actually means in a disease that likes to relapse when you least expect it, this episode explores how a shared vocabulary might finally help researchers compare studies, registries make sense, and multidisciplinary teams argue a little more productively. As it turns out, building a common language might be one of the most important steps toward better science; and better care; in VGEI.
The Delphi consensus discussed in this episode can be accessed here:
https://www.ejves.com/article/S1078-5884(25)00707-5/