NEWLETTER

Dear Friends

11th Annual Meeting

Summary Report
The 1997 Annual Meeting has taken place in Copenhagen.

Under the leadership of President Ernst Wolner, some quite spectacular events took place. The Presidential address was entitled "Research in Cardio-thoracic Surgery - A European Challenge". Among the issues discussed was the relative lack of medical industry in Europe and the need for concerted action to bring more research funding into the cardio-thoracic area. Andrew Wechsler, well-known surgeon from Richmond, Virginia, gave the basic science lecture on "Molecular Biology for the Cardiothoracic Surgeon" . This excellent lecture on this new field, high-lighted the exciting and extremely important future development possibilities. His lecture was a true pedagogical performance. The same was true for our Honoured Guest, Alain Carpentier, who spoke on "Transfer of Knowledge". His vast experience as a surgeon, innovator, teacher, and humanist gave us thought-provoking examples, many of them taken from his work on the mitral valve and on his hospital in Vietnam. Thank you Ernst, Andy and Alain for giving us such hours of intense concentration and enjoyment!

The circumstances around the Meeting were favourable with nice weather in a charming city. The venue at Bella Center was very well suited for our Meeting and the social programme exhibited much of Denmark's flavour and culture, high-lighted by the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra during the Opening Ceremony. Well done, Local Organising Committee under its chairman, Gösta Pettersson, and thank you for all your work!

The Meeting in Copenhagen also confirmed the growth of our Association. Again, the growth in delegates, exhibition space and scientific content was substantial. The total number of participants was 1822, compared with 1700 in Prague. The exhibition space covered 1261 m² compared with 1110 m² in Prague.

Prizes and Awards
The first Fontan Prize winner, Francisco Tritto, has now spent his prize year with Marcos Murtra in Barcelona. He gave a short, very well received report during the first morning of the Meeting.

This year's Fontan Prize winner was Michael Underwood, surgeon from Bristol Heart Institute, who will spend his year with Robert Dion in Brussels.

The Young Investigator's Awards were complemented by two Lillehei Awards to young surgeons for a paper in valve research, generously donated by St. Jude Medical on commemoration of their 20th anniversary. The Lillehei Award winners were I. Zhouravliova, Kemerovo, Russia, and R. Cesnjever, Erlangen, Germany. The Young Investigator's Award for the cardiac presentation was given to O. Goedje, Munich, Germany, and the thoracic winner was W. Wisser from Vienna, Austria. Congratulations!

All in all it was a very successful meeting which promised much for the future. Again, there is always place for improvement. Please send me any comments you might have. We need your input to develop the Meeting!

Information and Decisions
During the Council Meetings and General Assembly much new information was given and decisions taken.

Membership
One such decision was to investigate the pros and cons of new kinds of membership for international and junior members. As regards junior membership, the point was made that the Association now has few young members and that it would be necessary to attract also them as members and thus give them a forum. Such a move would mean a change in the constitution, and during the General Assembly it was informed that the Council would investigate the matter further. As you know, any change of the constitution involves some administrative steps and approval by the General Assembly.

Another issue is that of international members. The Annual Meeting now is attended by several non-Europeans who contribute with their experience, scientific work and interest. Many have expressed a wish to become members. We will investigate this possibility also. You will be informed about the development in this area in coming Newsletters and at the next Annual Meeting. If you have any points of view, please write to me.

The chairman of the Membership Committee, David Wheatley, announced that 105 cardio-thoracic surgeons had applied for membership in the Association. According to the Constitution, there was a formal vote during the General Assembly when all applicants were voted in as members. This brings the current membership to 823 members. To all new members, Welcome in our midst and welcome to take part in all the activities of the Association.

The European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons
One very important development in the history of cardio-thoracic surgery in Europe was the creation on October 3rd 1996 of the European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons. This opens a way to standardization and guaranteed quality of the profession in Europe. In September 1997 the first examinations were organized in Wroclaw (thoracic) and in Copenhagen (cardiovascular). The first candidates who had the courage to take these rather extensive examinations and passed are A. Carretta, G. Chiesa, S.R.R. Podila, E. Ruffini and L. Spaggiari. They are now recognised by the European Board and will receive a diploma and are entitled to put the letter FETCS after their names.

As was announced during the General Assembly more than 150 surgeons have applied for the same recognition under the "Grandfather Clause". Although most applications fullfill the requirements for such an application, there are some applications that will have to be scrutinized by the assessment panel to see whether they are completely within the regulations. The first commitment of the Board is to guarantee a high level of professional quality. Applications of EACTS members under this "Grandfather Clause" give a strong support to the Board in its efforts to improve upon and harmonize the education in cardio-thoracic surgery in Europe. Please, if you have not yet done so and you meet the requirements of recognition in your own country and of 5 years of independent practice, apply for a fellowship according to the "Grandfather Clause". For application forms and details, please contact Hans Huysmans at Leiden University Hospital, telephone +31 - 71 - 526 4022, fax +31 -71 - 5 248 284.

The European Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery
The report on our Journal was very favourable. The change to our new publisher, Elsevier, and the hard work by the Editor, Marko Turina, the Editorial Manager, Ian Beecroft and the Associate Editors (for cardiac Axel Haverich, for thoracic Keyvan Moghissi) has worked wonders. The Journal is now a thicker and more beautiful piece of printed material and is more appreciated for its scientific content. The impact factor of the journal has increased from 0.590 (1995) to 0.952 (1996), an important development to which we all are to be congratulated.

The Meeting in Copenhagen was disappointing in terms of manuscript submissions to the Journal. Only 60 papers were received from the 100 oral presentations scheduled. Five of the scheduled speakers did not turn up to speak!!

EJCTS currently offers optimal turnaround times in reviewing manuscripts and has no backlog at the publisher. Papers will be published fast in the first possible issue. Look at the recent issues and see for yourself how quickly manuscripts are published.

Given that an enormous amount of voluntary time and effort is going into both organising the Annual Meetings and publishing the Journal, it is only fair that authors do their bit and submit their papers. For this reason the Council has decided to sanction both no-show and non-submitting authors and all co-authors with a 2 year ban from presenting their material at the EACTS Meetings. The 2-year ban may seem as a very stiff rule. We hope that the membership and the scientific community in general will understand that we are obliged to follow the rules, but will also appreciate that at the same time we are doing all we can to make our Journal as good as possible.

The ECSUR Project
The Database committee under the chairmanship of Ken Taylor and Richard Wyse as Project Manager, has now launched (under the auspices of EACTS) the ECSUR project, i.e. the European Cardiac Surgery Registry. It will collect data on patients, starting with adult cardiac surgery, soon to be followed by a thoracic surgery registry, and a paediatric registry.

The ECSUR office has developed sophisticated software specifically designed for the cardiac surgical registry and its participating centres. Initially, it compiled information on 600 cardiac surgical centres, and around 2400 individuals. It is now ready to receive patient data, either following a pre-defined minimum dataset, or larger datasets (such as the STS dataset) according to each centre's own preferences for submitting data. Transfer of data to ECSUR can be either on paper, or electronically (floppy diskette). ECSUR has translation systems available so that you can use your own diagnosis and operation codes. The software was shown in the ECSUR booth and evoked much interest. Many surgeons and departments (and national registries) have now already sent or promised to send their data. If you are interested to participate in this important endeavour, which will greatly enhance our possibilities of research and knowledge, please contact Richard Wyse by phone +44 181 383 1902, fax +44 181 383 1915 or e-mail: rkh.wyse@rpms.ac.uk

Homepage http://www.eacts.org
Another important development is that of the EACTS Homepage on the Internet. The IT Committee under the chairmanship of Paul Sergeant has taken part in the development of the new cardio-thoracic CTSnet in collaboration with the STS. During the Copenhagen Meeting the CTSnet was exhibited in the EACTS booth and evoked considerable interest. The basis for the world-wide information and communication system is now firm, and you are all invited to make use of this new wonderful tool via the EACTS homepage at the address http:// www.eacts.org . There is much useful information on the Annual Meeting, future meetings, the Journal, Membership of Committees and Committee work, useful addresses etc. You will also note how handy it is to communicate directly with many members just by clicking their e-mail addresses.

Your password and User ID you will recieve with your mailed copy of the Newsletter. Alternatively you will receive it by e-mail from Mrs. McGree at EACTS Executive Secretariat, KathyM@thguk.com or Mrs. Zingmark, Secretary Generals office, e-mail: EACTS.Secretary@mailbox.calypso.net.

New Officers and Councillors
The General Assembly thanked all officers and members of the various committees leaving after the end of their terms and voted new officers:< br> President : Eugene Baudet

Vice President : David Wheatley
Councillors : Joachim Hasse and José L Pomar

A full account of members participating in the organisation of the EACTS is given below.

Music Maestro, please
During the Presidential Dinner Jean-Marie Wihlm and John Cockburn entertained by enthusiastic playing traditional jazz on the banjo and the clarinet. Thank you, we enjoyed it! Their musical interest gave birth to an idea of creating an EACTS orchestra. Do you play any instrument and would like to join, please contact me, Jean-Marie, or John.

12th Annual Meeting, Brussels

The dates 20-23 September will be very well prepared in Brussels by the Local Organising Committee, Paul Sergeant, Francis Wellens, Toni Lerut and Philippe Noirhomme. The venue for the Annual Meeting is located in the city centre, close to La Grande Place within walking distance to most activities. Brussels promises to offer a nice blend of science, culture, and gastronomy. The Preliminary Programme will be mailed to you in December. In the meantime I trust that you mark your calendars with the dates of the meeting, 20-23 September 1998.

The deadline for abstract submission is as usual 1 April.

Yours sincerely

Torkel Åberg
Secretary General EACTS
Heart Centre, University Hospital
S-901 85 Jmeå, Sweden

Tel: +46 90 785 36 76
Fax: +46 90 785 36 01
E-mail: eacts.secretary@mailbox.calypso.net

Future Annual Meetings

EACTS
1998 Brussels, Belgium 20-23 September
1999 Edinburgh, Scotland 19-22 September
2000 Frankfurt, Germany 22-25 October

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
1998 New Orleans, Louisiana 26-28 January

1999 San Antonio, Texas 25-27 January
2000 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 31 January - 2 February

The American Association for Thoracic Surgery
1998 Boston, Massachusetts 3-6 May

1999 New Orleans, Louisiana 18-21 April
2000 Toronto, Ontario 30 April - 3 May

2001 San Diego, California 6-9 May