NEWSLETTER
August 2004
Letter from the President
Dear Colleagues
The third EACTS/ESTS joint meeting in Leipzig from 12-15th September has been well advertised and I hope as many members as possible will attend. If you did not register by 2nd July, you have missed the free registration, but if you register before 27th August, it is still cheaper than after that date.
The scientific meeting promises to be very good. 1370 abstracts were submitted. Abstracts were graded in two rounds of review. The initial review reduced these by 50%. Those remaining were graded and then further assessed on 22nd May by 19 members of the Programme Committee, assisted by Dr Hank Edmunds, Editor of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery and Dr Andy Wechsler, Editor of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. 339 abstracts from 33 countries were accepted and these were divided up into what should be an excellent programme running from Monday 13th to lunchtime on Wednesday 15th September.
I would like to thank all those who spent so much time reviewing abstracts and especially the members of the Programme Committee who gave up their weekend to finalise the programme. I would also like particularly to thank Kathy McGree and Bruce Keogh, who have done the bulk of the work sorting out the programme.
The Honoured Guest Lecture on Tuesday 14th September will be given by Dr Bill Williams from Toronto and his talk is entitled “Surgical outcomes in patients with congenital heart disease; expectations and realities”. This will be followed by the Basic Science lecture, which will be given by Professor Thomas Eschenhagen from Hamburg on “Creating three dimensional engineered heart tissues from primary heart cells”. In addition to the main programme, the Techno College on Saturday 11th, the Postgraduate courses on Sunday 12th and the Breakfast sessions, complete the very full programme.
The local organisers Friedrich Mohr and Richard Achatzy have laid on an excellent social programme and I am sure we will all enjoy Leipzig. As Leipzig has a rich musical heritage it was felt appropriate to offer two concerts on the Monday night. An orchestral concert at the Gewandhaus and an
organ recital at St Tomaskirche. The Concert will be held in the world famous Gewandhaus Concert Hall and will include works by Brahms and Schubert. An organ recital will be held at the Tomaskirche which has been home for almost 800 years to the famous St Thomas Boys’ Choir. Without any doubt it has been the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach which has made this a unique venue. The recital will feature works by Gigout, Alain and, of course, Bach. Entry to both events will be by ticket only, and are included in the registration fee.
The General Assembly is on Monday 13th September at 5 pm and I hope that as many members as possible will come. The agenda is enclosed, together with a list of prospective new members, so please look at this and come to approve them joining EACTS. Also enclosed is a list of amendments to the constitution, which is important regarding proposed changes in membership categories.
As last year, there will be a meeting of the Presidents of the National Societies. It is important that we all pull together in our desire to raise the standard of cardiothoracic surgery in Europe and last year’s meeting was very successful. I hope that as many Presidents as possible will come and represent their country.
There have been three Council meetings since the last Annual Meeting and a number of important issues have arisen. Continuing financial support has been approved for the Bergamo School and the Paediatric Database. The International Cooperation Committee, has taken over from the former Eastern European Committee. Hans Borst had chaired the Eastern European Committee most successfully for many years, but on his retiring as Chairman, it was felt that we should broaden our horizons and Marko Turina will organise the new International Cooperation Committee.
Following the meeting with the ESTS in Toronto last April, it was agreed that we should continue our Joint Annual Meeting for the next five years and review the situation towards the end of that time. The ESTS also have a meeting in the spring however, no abstracts are submitted for this as it was felt that the papers should all be concentrated at the joint meeting.
A Symposium for the Future was held in Frankfurt in early July and an account of this can be seen in the Secretary General’s report. We are at a difficult time in cardiac surgery because of the increased use of intra coronary stents by cardiologists, with the consequent reduction in coronary artery surgery. So we have to think of ways to increase our practice in other fields and perhaps to work towards fewer larger units.
I am very conscious of the needs of our junior members and these have been discussed at Council. The impact of the European Working Time Directive and its effect on training is of considerable concern. Getting an adequate training in a shorter number of hours will be difficult. Using new teaching methods and wet labs may help, but it is likely that those finishing their training will not be as experienced as their predecessors. It is planned to hold a “Symposium on Training”, probably at the 2005 Annual Meeting in Barcelona. In particular, it is necessary to give trainees an exposure to the new technologies and this maybe possible through the Bergamo School. The Junior Representative remains a co-opted member of Council and attends the full Council Meetings.
It remains for me to wish everyone a happy summer holiday and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Annual Meeting. Remember that in addition to the scientific programme, it is a time to meet friends and enjoy the beautiful city of Leipzig.
James L Monro, FRCS, FETCS
President EACTS
