The European Society of Cardiology was founded in 1950 by representatives from 14 national societies. The mission of the ESC is to improve the quality of life of the European population by reducing the impact of cardiovascular disease. The membership comprises 47 national cardiology societies, from central and greater Europe to the Middle East and North Africa. In total, there are some 40,000 professional members, and the annual ESC Congress is the largest medical meeting in Europe.
About the conference
The 2002 Congress is being held at Messe Berlin GmbH, Berlin, Germany. The Congress will be accompanied by an exhibition of 12,000 square metres. Approximately 200 companies from all over the world will display their products and services related to cardiology. In an effort to widen the appeal and scope of industrial participation, the organisers have also planned a separate exhibition area dedicated to biotech and innovative devices, software, equipment and services.
“Basic Science” track
New features of the 2002 Congress include the introduction of a Basic Science track: a series of sessions focusing on basic science related to cardiovascular disease in the areas of vascular biology, cardiac muscle biology, molecular biology, and other areas of basic science related to the physiology and pathophysiology of the cardiovascular system. This year, 10 sessions on “Plasticity and remodelling in the heart and blood vessels” have been organised, and two specially selected abstract sessions will also be staged. Sessions included in this track include a symposium looking at the current concept and future horizons of vascular gene therapy, and a Working Group session on “Stem cells in vascular biology: pathophysiological role and therapeutic potential”.
FOCUS sessions
FOCUS Imaging Intervention sessions are to be held for the fourth consecutive year following the success of last year’s interactive sessions, which attracted over 5,000 participants. A new series of computer-assisted, interactive FOCUS sessions is taking place this year, entitled “FOCUS Cardiology Practice”, and these will look at patient-oriented clinical decision-making for practising cardiologists.
ESC Working Group symposia
Within the European Society of Cardiology there are 27 Working Groups, including a “Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Drug Therapy” Working Group, who conduct specific research and educational projects. They will be organising a series of scientific symposia in Berlin to provide an overview of ongoing research in their fields of competence. These will include:
- Emerging therapies for heart failure.
- Acute steroid actions in cardiovascular tissue and their clinical relevance.
- Genetic profile: a possibility of improving drug treatment.
- How to discover rare serious drug events as early as possible.
- Pulmonary arterial hypertension: new genes, new therapies.
- Integration of web-based technologies in clinical trials.
Hotline and new clinical trial update
The first presentation of the most important new clinical trial results relevant to clinical practice will take place at the “Hotline” sessions. Two clinical trial update sessions will be organised in addition to these sessions, to feature new data on trials recently presented at other meetings.
Main sessions and symposia
In the main sessions and symposia, experts will provide reviews of topics related to current basic and clinical cardiovascular research, epidemiology, and clinical cardiology as a perspective for daily clinical practice. Symposia will include:
- Optimal treatment for the long QT syndrome.
- b-blockers, genotype-specific drugs or implantable devices?
- Should men and women receive the same therapy?
- Heart failure management in Europe: from guidelines to clinical practice (European Heart Survey).
Highlight session
The whole Congress summarised in 90 minutes! This session, on the last day of the Congress, will provide overviews of new and exciting development in basic and clinical sciences as presented at this year’s Congress.
Invited lectures
Renowned specialists will hold four prestigious European Society of Cardiology lectures on clinical cardiology (the Grüntzig and Denolin lectures), population science and basic sciences.
Satellite symposia
In addition to the above sessions and lectures, a number of satellite symposia organised by the pharmaceutical and technical industries will be included as part of the Congress programme.
Oral and poster presentations
The latest research will be presented as oral abstract presentations or posters by investigators from European countries and overseas. The Congress Programme Committee is organising six moderated poster sessions. The 10 best posters in each session will be displayed during the coffee break in a designated area. Each poster will be presented by the author and discussed by two moderators in the audience. The authors of the winning poster for each session will be presented with a diploma during the awards ceremony on the Tuesday of the Congress.
The European Heart House
2035 Route des Colles
BP 179 – Les Templiers
FR-06903 Sophia Antipolis
France
T:+33 4 92947600
F:+33 4 92947601
E:[email protected]
W:www.escardio.org
Address during the Congress
31 Aug– 4 Sept 2002 only
ESC Congress 2002
Messe Berlin GmbH
Entrance Hammerskjöldplatz
Messehalle 19
D-14055 Berlin
Germany
T:+49 (0)30 30380 F:+49 (0)30 30382325
E:central@messe- berlin.de
W www.messe-berlin.de
ESC Congress 2003
The ESC Congress 2003 is to be held at:
Messe Wien
Vienna
Austria
on
30 Aug – 3 Sept 2003
W:www.messe.at
