The highlights in the 23^rd Annual Meeting of the Asian Society for Cardiovascular and the Thoracic Surgery

The 23^rd Annual Meeting of the Asian Society for Cardiovascular and the Thoracic Surgery was held from May 11-14, 2015 in Hong Kong—the oriental Pearl.

The theme of this event was “Shaping the Future through Innovation and Collaboration”, which emphasized on the importance of innovation approaches and collaborative working in the future development of cardiovascular and thoracic disease.

May 11, 2015 was the first part of this meeting, ACCVTS 2015 together with the American Association for Thoracic Surgery to organize the Postgraduate Course in three halls. Hall One was focusing on congenital cardiac disease and Hall Two focusing on adult cardiac disease, while Hall three was about thoracic disease. It covered many aspects in this filed, including neonatal surgery, coronary artery disease, mitral valve, aortic valve and aorta, atrial fibrillation, oesophageal disease, lung cancer and chest wall pathology, etc. Experts from all over the world discussed with enthusiasm, and learned to each other.

The welcome reception was an easy addition to the tight schedule of that day, with delicious cakes and nice guitar players (Figure 1). The Victoria Harbour was lighted up at this time.

Figure 1 Guitar players in the welcome reception.

May 12, 2015, ASCVTS 2015 was formally opened. Plenary and interactive symposiums presented much new information regarding cardiovascular and thoracic care: transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), MCS, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), thoracic oncology. Participators in this meeting can learn more about the new techniques, findings and research results (Figures 2,3,4).

Figure 2 Speakers in the ASCVTS 2015.

Figure 3 The AME booth in ASCVTS 2015. AME editors and Prof. Pedro Del Nido from Boston Children’s Hospital, President of AATS 2015 (A); Prof. Shaf Keshavjee from Toronto General Hospital (B); Prof. Ali Zamir Khan from Medanta Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery (C); Prof. Toni Lerut, from University Hospital Leuven, President of AATS 2014 (D).

Figure 4 The AME booth in ASCVTS 2015. AME editors and Prof. Richard A. Jonas from Children’s National Heart Institute (A); Prof. W. Randolph Chitwood from Vidant Medical Center and East Carolina University (B); Alexander Patterson from Washington University School of Medicine (C); Prof. Wentao Fang from Shanghai Chest Hospital (D).

Prof. Tianxiang Gu from the Department of Cardiac Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital China Medical University, attended this conference together with his team to share his surgical experience (Figure 5). He firstly shared his valve sparing root surgery in Marfans Syndrome. Prof. Du’s suggestion was to pay more attention on details: highly anastomosis of valves, deeply minimizing the annulus dilatation, fully understanding of the concept of 3D structures of aortic root, and skillful aortic replacement approach. Moreover, he and his team also reported their experience with the titles “Early outcomes of valve-sparing root replacement in surgical management of the acute type-A aortic dissection” and “A technique modification in the cannulation to the innominate artery in the surgical treatment of aortic dissection”. In addition, Prof. Changqing Gao from Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of the PLA General Hospital, Prof. Jian Zhuang from Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Prof. Haiquan Chen from Shanghai Chest Hospital and Prof. Shoujun Li from Fu Wai Hospital, CAMS & PUMC, as well as many other Chinese experts had addressed the latest researches and developments of cardiovascular and thoracic disease in this ASCVTS. It was the voice from China, which would be beneficial to both young surgeons and patents with heart and thoracic disease.

Figure 5 Prof. Tian-Xiang Gu is having a report.

Prof. Tristan D. Yan from University of Sydney shared with us the updated ARCH Project (Figure 6). He said: “We need validation, collaboration and standardization”.

Figure 6 Prof. Tristan D. Yan is introducing the updated ARCH Project.

May 13, 2015, there were also the splendid plenary and interactive symposiums. Prof. Qi Miao, Director of Cardiac Surgery from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital had a speech entitled “Role of mitral value repair in infective endocarditis” to share his idea and experience through cases and surgical video demonstration (Figure 7).

Figure 7 AME editor and Prof. Shunji Sano.

We were honored to meet Prof. Shunji Sano from Okayama University Hospital, and had an interview with him (Figure 8). Prof. Sano is internationally renowned for his contributions to the surgical treatment of congenital heart disease and the famous “Sano Procedure”. It was impressive that he expressed to us that he cares more for the pediatric heart disease and hope people could also pay more attention to improve the surgical treatment for children with heart disease.

Figure 8 Prof. Qi Miao is having a report.

May 14, 2015 was the last day of this event, focusing on invited lectures & free paper. We could see more young doctors and researchers standing in the platform to show their works and ideas. It was a process for learned and learning. Participators chose what they were really interested in to listen. At last, the 4-day conference was perfectly closed! The AME editorial team were honored to witness this international event, and had this chance to meet our distinguished editorial board members, authors and readers.

It was an event for mutual communication, study and progress for international experts. We were also delighted to witness the wonderful performance of Chinese experts in the field of cardiovascular and thoracic disease.

The ASCVTS 2016 will be held in Taipei International Convention Center, Tai Wan during April 06-10, 2016. We look forward to meeting you there.

Acknowledgements

None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.