The Thirty-fifth Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons will be held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, January 25-27, 1999, preceded by the Thirty-second Postgraduates Program on Sunday, January 24, 1999.
The Sunday Postgraduate program will consist of eleven presentations on subjects of current interest covering the breadth of the specialty. Once again this year's program will utilize an interactive audience response system to develop instant attendee response to presenter questions. A limited number of response units will be available on a first come-first served basis. The morning session will include presentations on "Mechanical Support of the Failing Lung," "Ventricular Assist: What, When and How," "Bronchoplasty Resections-Indications and Techniques," and "Newer Xenograft Valves". The morning will conclude with the CCCETS Basic Science Lecture given by Dr. Judah Folkman, Senior Associate in Surgery, Director, Surgical Research Laboratory, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA. The CCCETS Lecture is from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, and by tradition will be open to all those registered for the Annual Meeting. The Postgraduate Luncheon Address will be delivered by Dr. Beck Weathers of Dallas, TX who will address, "Survival on Everest-A Personal Account." The afternoon session will include six presentations on a variety of subjects of interest. Registration for the Postgraduate Program is separate from the Annual Meeting: the fee is $80 per person.
The Program Committee is very pleased with the response to the abstract call, counting 575 abstracts submitted which represents an all time high number of submissions. Both the quantity and high quality of the abstracts submitted made possible the development of a program that represents all aspects of adult and pediatric cardiac surgery and general thoracic surgery. Breakout sessions which have been used successfully in past meetings, will be continued this year.
This year the popular Poster Session will continue to include moderated presentations of all poster exhibits. Tuesday and Wednesday morning poster presentations will provide an opportunity to review and discuss the posters which cover the breadth of general thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. The posters will be on display through Tuesday in the exhibit area, but will be relocated to the meeting room for their presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
The Monday morning plenary session begins with the presentation of the J. Maxwell Chamberlain Memorial Paper awarded to the first paper on the program, and concludes with the Presidential Address by Dr. Richard Anderson. The afternoon program will consist of three parallel surgical forums, "Research I," "Research II," and "General Thoracic Surgery" running simultaneously from 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. The Annual Business Meeting (for members only) will follow.
The Movie Night presentations and the Members and Guests Reception will be on Monday and Tuesday evenings respectively. This year the Committee has received 60 film submissions for the Annual Movie Night making it possible to develop an excellent program representative of all aspects of the specialty. The movie session will be 8:00 p.m. Monday evening in the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center. The Buffet Reception for Members and Guests will be at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday evening, at the Institute of Texan Cultures.
Also Tuesday morning, the Ralph Alley Lecture will be delivered by Dr. Miles F. Shore, Boston, MA. The afternoon program is comprised of parallel surgical forums running from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. Session I will include Cardiac Surgery I followed by Cardiac Surgery II. Session II includes "Acquired and Congenital Cardiac Surgery" and "Congenital Cardiac Surgery," and Session III comprises "General Thoracic" and "Thoracic Research."
This year the popular breakfast sessions will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Tuesday morning, the Clinical Workshops will be offered. On Wednesday the Meet the Experts Sessions and Technical-How I Do It Sessions will be held. Enrollment for these morning sessions will be limited to 40; you may sign up during on-site registration if you wish to attend these sessions.
This year, there will be two complimentary symposia presented on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. On Tuesday morning a "Public Affairs Update" by Dr. Timothy Gardner will be presented, while on Wednesday morning "Cardiothoracic Surgery for Older Patients-Meeting the Needs of a Rapidly Aging Population," a joint presentation of STS and the American Geriatrics Society will be offered. You must preregister for these complimentary programs. A continental breakfast will be provided.
The Program Committee believes that a superb and extensive scientific program has been developed. We are excited about the innovations in the program and welcome feedback from members regarding these changes, as well as suggestions for future improvements.
