Newsletter

During the Glasgow Meeting many issues were discussed and put to the Council for decision. Council met again in Windsor 27 November and this Newsletter is mainly a report from that meeting.

During the recent Council Meeting, our new office in Windsor was officially inaugurated by our President, Joachim Hasse, cutting a silk ribbon. Two ownership symbols had been purchased in commemoration of the event, a Mallet for the President and a glass Vase for the Secretariat, which is in the centre of Windsor, across the street from Windsor Castle and adjacent to the Castle Hotel.

European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery

The Cottage
16 High Street
Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1LD, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1753 832 166

Fax: +44 (0)1753 620 407

E-mail: info@eacts.co.uk

The friendly voice that will answer your calls will be Linda Collis. She will be available at the Secretariat during office hours and will be happy to assist you. Our Executive Secretary and chief of the Windsor Office is Kathy McGree who has a thorough knowledge about the EACTS, having been in charge of the Association in CASIL. She is now busy with building up an infrastructure in the office and preparing the Frankfurt Meeting as well as tidying up things from CASIL.

Our Accountant is Richard Rhodes of Feltons Chartered Accountants and he is also a partner in the firm.

Sharon Pidgeon will be engaged by the EACTS Secretariat on a part time basis for the time being. She will primarily be working with satellite meetings.

During the Glasgow Meeting, it was decided to start an endeavour to describe the conditions under which the thoracic surgical patient should be operated. It was decided to set up an ad hoc EACTS/ESTS Liaison Committee. Walter Klepetko has undertaken to be the chairman. He has sent out a questionnaire to some key people to find out the facts and to get a feel of the current opinion. If you have got the questionnaire, please fill it in order to help us with this important work.

The EACTS and CTSNet have entered into negotiations with the market research company Datamonitor. The company is well known within its field and makes market surveys for its customers world-wide and in various areas. They would like to go into cardio-thoracic surgery and cardiology as well. Our collaboration would consist of using the address list of EACTS and CTSNet to allow them to send you questionnaires two to three times a year. By answering the questionnaire, you would help shape the future and support the EACTS. The questionnaires would be screened by a small committee of our members and the data reviewed by this committee before handing them over to Datamonitors customer.

As we want to preserve the personal integrity of all our members, Council decided that we would not send these questionnaires to all members. Instead a system would be devised by which any member could volunteer to be an Opinion Leader and thus take it upon himself to answer the questionnaires. The EACTS and CTSNet will be reimbursed for our effort. This money will go directly into the maintenance of CTSNet.

The questionnaires will to start with probably be done on paper. In the future it will be done through the Internet on the CTSNet.

If you would like to become an Opinion Leader, please either send a small letter or an e-mail to Linda Collis lindac@eacts.co.uk at the Secretariat in Windsor or to Maud Zingmark eacts.secretary@mailbox.calypso.net

Due to the fact that we received 1077 abstracts for the Glasgow Meeting, it was decided that the work load for the reviewers of the abstracts was too large and that the grading process should be revised and refined. The following decisions were made:

Step 1. A first group of reviewers will be asked to grade at the most 200 abstracts each. Every abstract should be reviewed by around 10 surgeons. Grading scores should be from 1 to 10. The results are computed and a cut-off point is decided.

Step 2. The abstracts above the cut-off point are sent to Programme Committee members for renewed grading. The Programme is then built upon the results of the Step 2 grading.

The new features are: No reviewer needs to grade more than 200 abstracts; the group reviewers will be expanded; the grades are expanded to ten; a feed-back is going to be given each reviewer. Council hopes that this refinement of the process will engage more members, make it an even more fair process and make a scientifically sound and interesting programme.

Due to the increased necessity of disclosing any possible bias because of financial support and in order to conform with the rules of our American sister organisations, the Council decided to include a Conflict of Interest Statement to be signed by all authors presenting during the Annual Meeting. This Conflict of Interest Statement will be signed on the Abstract Form, and included in the Book of Abstracts and in the Journal.

For some time, the idea of arranging a joint meeting between EACTS and ESTS has been entertained. An ad hoc committee exploring the factual possibilities of arranging such a meeting was appointed. The committee found that the practical possibilities in the venue in Lisbon were present, that the addition of a fifth parallell session would satisfy the necessary added volume and that the thoracic part of such a meeting probably would be the largest general thoracic meeting ever. The two incoming Presidents of the EACTS and ESTS, Marcos Murtra and Heikki Toomes as well as the chairman and co-chairman of the local organising committee, Manuel Antunes and Manuel Sa Vieira had declared that they were looking forward to collaborating in a joint meeting. The committee has unanimously recommended to the Councils of the EACTS and ESTS to proceed with plans for a joint meeting. The Council of the EACTS subsequently unanimously approved the recommendation and the joint meeting now only needs the formal decision by the ESTS Council.

The separating process with CASIL, our previous Executive Secretariat, is proving to be a difficult one. The audit of the 1998-99 fiscal year is still not ready and the accounts are not in order. Thus our fears and the reason for our leaving CASIL have been firmly confirmed by the sequence of events after our parting. Our main financial assets are, however, safely in our bank accounts. At the moment we are completely blind as to the financial results of 1999.

In a previous Council decision it had been decided to hold a course on Current Issues in Cardio-thoracic Surgery/Management Course in June 2000. However, considering the fact that we are at the moment totally blind as to the state of our financial affairs, Council decided to postpone that course for one year and then probably combine it with a Conference on the Future for all members involved in committee work.

Current Issues in Cardio-Thoracic Surgery/Management Course in Umeå,

June 2000, will be postponed to 2001 due to financial insecurities.

East European Committee

The East European Committee has finished its first four years of existence with these activities:

45 fellowships (20 from the CIS, 25 from former satellite and 8 from the Baltic states).

14 professorial visits to and from the EAST, some of them mutual, involving 32 centres of cardiac and thoracic surgery.

In addition our first workshop in Tomsk, Siberia, was completed successfully and also provided useful experiences for similar events. Two workshops on thoracic and cardiac surgery, respectively, presently are being prepared in Russia.

Two new approaches: First, we were able to support free access of 27 Eastern European surgeons to the recent excellent Life Television Conference devoted to Pioneering Techniques in Cardiac Surgery, which was conducted by Prof. F.-W. Mohr at the Leipzig Heart Centre. Also two of our current fellows were sponsored to attend the Birmingham Heart Course. Second, under the initiative of Prof. Z. Religa, we are planning to have trained 8 co-workers of Prof. Ostrovski of Minsk, Belarus, in Warsaw and Zabrze, Poland.

Prof. V. Alexi-Meskishvili of the German Heart Centre, Berlin, has joined the Committee. Born in Tblisi, Georgia, and trained at the Bakoulev Institute in Moscow, he has an in-depth experience with and continuing contacts with many centres in the CIS.

Finally, the undersigned has again travelled to several Eastern centres, including two in Georgia and four in Southern Russia. He was asked to give the R. Alley Lecture on his experiences in Eastern Europe at the first combined meeting of the STS and EACTS, Ft. Lauderdale, January 30 -February 2, 2000.

One major problem for our Eastern fellows persists: most of the host countries do not issue temporary work permits - a real anomaly in a continent on its march to educational harmonisation! We would greatly appreciate receiving information on the present state of affairs in the individual West European countries in order to address this problem with the EC.

The Committee is now sailing into the new millennium with satisfaction and confidence and wishes to extend its cordial thanks to all co-operating with us, including our partners in the industry and in philantrophic foundations.

As you know, the Junior membership was instituted during the Brussels Meeting. There are now 143 Junior Members of the EACTS. The acting co-chairman of the Junior Committee, Peter Kappetein told the Council that another 370 junior surgeons had shown interest by writing to become members of the Association. Thus the EACTS can look forward to represent an increasing proportion of European cardio-thoracic surgeons next year.

Some steps have been taken in the process of improving on the democracy of the EACTS. As seen in a special section of this Newsletter, we now ask for your assistance in nominating members for Council work. The procedure will be that all members are invited to make nominations to any of the members of the Nominating Committee.

As previously decided, the acting co-chairman of the Junior Committee, Peter Kappetein has been invited to attend Council Meetings.

Further deliberations are being made about the nominating process and the role of the Nominating Committee.

There will be an initiative in order to promote Democracy during the General Assembly in Frankfurt. A tentative proposal will be inserted on our Homepage and commentaries are invited. Further information in future Newsletter.

Nominations for next years election (Vice President) may be done to any of the members of the Nominating Committee, who will consider your suggestion. You are welcome to contact any of the following Committee members prior to 1 May 2000:

Prof. Hans G. Borst
Widenmayerstr. 7
D-805 38 Munich, Germany
Phone/fax + 49 89 29161191
hgborst@gmx.de

Prof. Toni Lerut
Heelkunde Thoraxheelkunde
UZ Gasthuisberg
Herestrat 49
3000 Leuven, Belgium
Phone +32 16 34 68 19, fax 32 16 34 68 21
Toni.Lerut@uz.kuleuven.ac.be

Prof Ernst Wolner
AK der Stadt Wien
Universitätsklinik Chirurgie, Herz- und Thoraxchirurgie
Währinger Gürtel 18-20
A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Phone +43 1 40 400 6966, fax +43 1 40 400 6968
ernst.wolner@akh-wien.ac.at

Prof. Eugène Baudet
Dept. Cardiovascular Surgery
Hopital de Haute-Leveque
Ave. de Magellen
33604 Bordeaux-Pessac, France
Phone + 33 5 56 36 70 49, fax + 33 5 56 07 22 78
baudet@francemultimedia.fr

Prof. David Wheatley
Cardiac Surgery
Royal Infirmary
10 Alexandra Parade
Glasgow G31 2ER, UK
Phone +44 141 211 4730, fax +44 141 552 0987
d.j.wheatley@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

Several members have acted upon the invitation to start discussion groups on the CTSNet. There has been some software problems that so far have prevented the groups from starting to function. However, these problems should be solved shortly. If you would like to start a discussion group, please contact Paul Sergeant.

Submission of Manuscripts

Those not turning in manuscripts not to be permitted to present material during two ensuing years.

For some reason the rate of not turning in manuscripts this year had increased from 10 % (in Brussels) to 16,6%.

The EACTS puts time at the Annual Meeting at the presenters´ disposal in order to promote good science. Good science means that the material is also going to be peer reviewed and published. When signing the abstract form, all authors guarantee that they will turn in their manuscripts to the Editors desk and thus fulfil their part of the agreement.

The American Societies have instigated stiff rules and by these means achieved a 100% turn in rate.

Council decided that the fact that authors did not comply by the rules was an offence of the agreement between author and Association. It was decided to re-inform all authors who are not complying with the rules that they will not be permitted to present any material at an Annual Meeting during two ensuing years.

Council also decided to put the question whether the name of the offenders should be published in the Journal to a formal vote during the General Assembly.

After successful negotiations, the agreement between the EACTS, ESTS and Elsevier has come to a fruitful end. As you have seen on the front page of the Journal, the European Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery is now also the official organ of the ESTS. The ESTS will bring some 300 new subscribers of the Journal. There is one added Associate Editor for thoracic surgery. ESTS had nominated Kumarasingham Jeyasingham. The Editor and Council of EACTS unanimously supported this appointment.

Development in the Relationship between General Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery

After the creation of the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons in 1993, the issue about where thoracic surgery belongs has been repeatedly discussed in the Council. It was obvious that some thoracic surgeons were not completely happy and at home within the EACTS. Council made a policy decision that the EACTS believes that thoracic surgery has its home alongside cardiac surgery and that the EACTS would work towards a happy co-habitation or a happy re-union with respect for the specific needs of thoracic surgeons.

One of the problems thoracic surgery faces is that its organisation differs markedly between countries of Europe. In some countries it is firmly tied to cardiac surgery, in others mainly to general surgery. In some countries most thoracic operations are done by thoracic specialists whether in cardiac or other units, in other countries many operations are performed by general surgeons with little specialised training. The ESTS Council took one extremely important step when it decided as its policy that general thoracic surgery belongs with cardiac surgery rather than with general surgery.

Several infrastructure features have been worked out during recent years. The European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery was formed in 1996 by collaboration between the EACTS, ESTS and ESCVS. A thoracic registry has been decided upon and will begin working under the umbrella of the ECSUR project. It will be used among other things as a sign of quality and probably a requirement for a Centre of Excellence thoracic department. The European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery is now the official organ of both societies. The quantity and quality of thoracic research has improved. An investigation on the organisation of thoracic surgery in Europe is being jointly undertaken under the chairmanship of Walter Klepetko. A joint Annual Meeting between the two societies is planned and in the final states of the decision process. It is also felt that the mutual trust between the two societies has markedly improved and is improving for each joint effort undertaken. This was especially evident at the committee meeting when the joint Annual Meeting was discussed and decided.

Thus it is obvious that the two societies have reached a state of happy co-habitation. I believe that our mutual interests from a professional, scientific and organisational point of view are so large that this happy state will remain. The future of thoracic surgery from many points of view is bright. The example of the large thoracic departments in the former Eastern European countries may be something to look into. The treatment of thoracic patients as a whole may very well be improved by allowing them to be operated by surgeons specifically educated to deal with the problems of these patients. Thus the issue of proved quality (the Registry) together with shown responsibility (European Board), scientific development (the Journal and the Annual Meeting) as well as the organisational requirements that will be the result of Walter Klepetkos investigation can only help in establishing thoracic surgery as a mature surgical speciality and making the ties between thoracic and cardiac surgery tighter. At the same time these infrastructure features will improve our case for making the patients with thoracic diseases be treated by people well educated in thoracic surgery.

The Preliminary Programme for EACTS meeting in Frankfurt 7-11 October 2000 will be mailed to you by the end of January. In the meantime please see our homepage for general details.

EACTS Homepage

The frequency of the visits at http://www.eacts.org exceeds our expectations. During the past year more than 240 000 hits have been noted. The average monthly number is about 20 000 with a doubled number of visits right before the Annual Meeting.

If you were one of the visitors at our homepage you will have noted that useful information can be accessed. You will find the Membership Application Form and rules for applications for prizes and awards, etc. As soon as the Preliminary Programme is printed this text will be inserted and you will be given the opportunity to register online as well as submit abstracts via the homepage. Furthermore forthcoming events are continuously updated. If you would like to advertise a national or international meeting on the homepage, please state details to Maud Zingmark eacts.secretary@mailbox.calypso.net

Discussion platforms have not yet started for technical reasons. You will be advised when they become active. If you are willing to collaborate actively in certain sections on the homepage, please contact Paul Sergeant, Information Officer, paul.sergeant@uz.kuleuven.ac.be

There are at present 472 surgeons who have been accepted as Fellows of the European Board and thus may include the proud letters FETCS on their stationeries and curriculi vitae. There are 170 applications pending. 42 surgeons have passed the actual examination. Numbers are increasing each year.

Please promote the Board. If you are not a Fellow, ask for an application form from our office and fill it in. Send your young colleagues to take the examination. Only by doing this well, will we gain respect as a responsible speciality. At the moment we have no access to the deciding bodies in the EU as we do not have a mono-speciality status. Much of our future is dependent of achieving the mono-speciality status. To do that we have to get our own house in order. Much of the work of the Council at the moment is geared towards this goal. Please make your contribution to this effort!

Dates of Examinations 2000

Thoracic: Friday and Saturday, 3 and 4 November in London
Cardiovascular: Tuesday and Wednesday, 27 and 28 June in Dresden

Applications under the grandfather clause are available until 1 September 2001. You can print the application form (one page only) directly from the web address:

European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons
P.O.B. 2023, 1990 AA Velserbroek, The Netherlands
Tel. +31 255 520 950, fax +31 255 523 353
E-mail: ebtcs@wxs.nl

Forthcoming Meetings of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) and European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery (EACTS)

In conjunction with the STS Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale there will be an extra Millennium Celebration day:

Saturday 29 January the STS has organised a tempting programme in Fort Lauderdale celebrating international co-operation. The arrangement includes a midday cruise, culinary offerings, wine tasting and a black tie elegant cocktail party. The world-known Tommy Dorsey Band will entertain later in the evening. Further information is provided on CTSNet (www.ctsnet.org).

December 1999

East European Committee

Submission of Manuscripts

EACTS Homepage

Dates of Examinations 2000

INVITATION to an International Symposium