Innovative Research, Videos, and Debates in Store at STS 2018

Be sure to attend the STS 54th Annual Meeting, January 27-31, 2018, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. The meeting is an opportunity to stay at the forefront of what’s new in cardiothoracic surgery.

“The meeting will be a remarkable educational experience,” said STS President Richard L. Prager, MD. “This is a chance to meet colleagues and friends from around the world, hear new ideas and concepts, and learn from each other.”

Hot Topics in Each Subspecialty

All members of the cardiothoracic surgery team will find educational programming relevant to their everyday practice. Three “How To” video sessions will be held on Sunday—one for each subspecialty. These dynamic sessions will feature video presentations on common cardiothoracic surgical procedures, with speakers offering unique insights. Other sessions on Sunday include the Practice Management Summit, the STS/AATS Critical Care Symposium, and the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Symposium.

On Monday and Tuesday, sessions for adult cardiac surgery will cover arrhythmia/atrial fibrillation, ischemic disease, mitral and tricuspid valves, and more.

“Cardiothoracic surgery is moving at a rapid clip. Some of our operations are moving from large, open procedures to small, minimally invasive, transcatheter, and other less invasive procedures to improve the health of our patients,” said STS Secretary Joseph F. Sabik III, MD. “It’s a very exciting time to be in heart surgery, and we’ll explore all of these topics at the meeting.”

The general thoracic surgery sessions will feature presentations on robotic surgery, esophageal disease, lung cancer, and more. Monday’s “Lung Cancer I” session will have content that tackles the current opioid epidemic in the United States. This will include an abstract on factors that are associated with new persistent opioid use after lung resection and an invited talk on the thoracic surgeon’s role in addressing the issue.

“Additionally, for the first time, we’ll have a session on Tuesday dedicated to health services research and database analyses,” said David Tom Cooke, MD, a member of the Workforce on Annual Meeting. “We’ll also have sessions highlighting innovative clinical general thoracic surgery research, including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and lung transplantation.”

Congenital heart surgeons can expect a mix of scientific abstracts, invited talks, debates, and videos covering disease processes in both children and adults.

“We’re going to have sessions on management of Ebstein’s anomaly from the newborn to the adult, complex two-ventricle repairs in patients with heterotaxy syndrome, and systemic atrioventricular valve repair in children with congenital heart disease,” said James S. Tweddell, MD, a member of the Workforce on Annual Meeting.

Spotlight on Improving Diversity

A new session on Monday will tackle the topic of diversity and inclusion in cardiothoracic surgery. Speakers will discuss how a diverse cardiothoracic surgery workforce can improve patient outcomes through increasing cultural competency and mitigating unconscious provider bias.

“The session will enable you to best interact with your communities and provide care for your patients in a culturally competent manner,” said Dr Cooke, who also chairs a Special Ad Hoc Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion, which planned the session.

Other new offerings include a collaborative session with the International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation, STS University courses on peroral endoscopic myotomy and minimally invasive aortic and mitral valve surgery, and a session explaining how physician documentation drives reimbursement.

View the Advance Program and register for the meeting today.