ACC.09, i2.09 Program Planner Is Now Live

It’s time to browse the ACC.09/i2.09 online program planner and begin to pre-plan your itinerary for when you arrive in Orlando. This year’s Annual Scientific Session is packed with interesting sessions, and it’s never too early to begin the process. For those who have yet to register, take a look at some of the many sessions you don’t want to miss. You may choose three different ways to browse the program: by date, by topic pathway or by session type, such as Symposia, Meet the Experts, Oral Contributions, Self-directed Learning, Spotlights and so on. The ACC.09 program features 11 topic pathways and in each, all the sessions related to that specific topic area are listed. The 11 pathways are: Cardiac Arrhythmias; Cardiac Function and Heart Failure; Congenital Cardiology Solutions; General Cardiology-Hypertension, Prevention and Lipids; Imaging and Diagnostic Testing; Lifelong Learning; Myocardial Ischemia and Infarction; Quality of Care and Outcomes Assessment; Valvular Heart Disease; and Vascular Disease. Click here to start planning today.

EP Program at ACC.09 Balances Needs of Specialists, Generalists

Schuger

The selection of sessions for the Cardiac Arrhythmia topic pathway at ACC.09 demonstrates how carefully program planners must work to balance the needs of topic specialists with those of general cardiologists. “We tried to capture as much of the EP spectrum as time allows,” said Claudio Schuger, M.D., F.A.C.C., who is co-chair of ACC.09. “Our goal was to build a program that would appeal to the general cardiologists and update their knowledge, help fellows in training learn more about the field and provide the specialists with exciting original science, important updates and the opportunity to meet with the best and the brightest in the field.”

General cardiologists who wish to maintain their proficiency in electrophysiology (EP) will find sessions on issues that they encounter frequently with their patients. The topics include state of the art information on atrial fibrillation (AF), management of and treatment options for patients with AF, following the guidelines for treating AF, and anti-coagulation issues with AF, including genotype-dosing interactions.

“Specialists and generalists alike will find the sessions on the state of the art in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in heart failure and other CRT topics extremely informative,” says Schuger. “They cover when to refer patients, which patients to refer and with those patients who are non-responders, what do we know and what can we expect in the future for dealing with these patients.” This is a very important field in which EP and HF specialists interact and collaborate so these sessions provide a great opportunity for the two groups, he adds.

You Might Need a Team
for International Lunch Symposia

Attendees interested in the International Lunch Symposia, Monday, March 30, may want to gather a team of colleagues to split the attendance duties and report back. Fourteen societies will join ACC colleagues on the podium to discuss various topics, including myocardial ischemia, delivering CV care in different health care systems, stem cell therapy for heart failure/myocardial infarction, LDL and glucose: How low do we go?, mitral valve and percutaneous aortic valve treatments and many other topics. The societies, which represent all continents, include the Brazilian Society of Cardiology, British Cardiovascular Society, Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, Cardiological Society of India, Chinese Society of Cardiology/Chinese College of Cardiovascular Physicians, the Pan African Society of Cardiology, Saudi Heart Association, Japanese Circulation Society and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. The European contingent also includes the French Society of Cardiology, German Cardiac Society, Hellenic Cardiac Society, Italian Society of Cardiology and the Spanish Society of Cardiology. The symposia run from 12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. on Monday, March 30.

Videocast Your Questions with You-Que:
What Will You Ask?

Again at ACC.09, attendees and non-attendees alike will have the opportunity to ask their questions of faculty experts using ACC’s You-Que, an online video streaming feature for uploading self-made videocasts. You-Que at ACC.09 will be featured during Session 656: Atherosclerosis Update: Development, Risk, Identification and Prevention on Tuesday, March 31, 8 to 9:30 a.m., and selected clips will be shown and answered during the live audience session. Meeting attendees or non-attendees are encouraged to submit questions related to the development, risk, identification or prevention of atherosclerosis. You-Que videos can be made using digital cameras with a video feature, cell phones, webcams or any other amateur video recording equipment. All videocasts must be submitted no later than March 16, 2009. Click here for information on how to submit your questions.

i2.09 to Offer Popular Live Case Presentations Again

As in past years, one of the highlights of the i2 Summit will be its live case programming. The first case presentations, which are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Saturday, March 28, will cover Multi-vessel PCI and Left Main PCI. Each topic is scheduled for one hour. The presentations include moderators, live case operators and panelists who will discuss the case, procedures and techniques. The Live Case sessions, which generally play to a packed room, will include these topics: Carotid Artery Stenting; Peripheral Vascular Interventions; Structural Heart Disease, (PFO/ASD); Coronary Bifurcation; Chronic Total Occlusion (Coronary); Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement; Multiterritory Intervention, Endovascular and Coronary; Transcatheter: Aortic Valve Replacement and Complex PCI, Thrombus, SVG. Sessions will be broadcast from numerous facilities. For more details, click here.

This is the second of four preview e-newsletters of Scientific Session News, with news and information about ACC.09 and i2 Summit 2009.

This Issue:

ACC.09, i2.09 Program Planner Is Now Live

EP Program at ACC.09 Balances Needs of Specialists, Generalists

You Might Need a Team for International Lunch Symposia

Videocast Your Questions with You-Que: What Will You Ask?

i2.09 to Offer Popular Live Case Presentations Again

ACC.09 Special Sessions: Practice Administrators, Legal Issues and More

Important Dates — 2009

February 18
Advance Registration Ends

February 19
Registration Available at the On-site Rate

March 28 – 31
i2 Summit 2009 in Orlando

March 29 – 31
ACC.09 Scientific Session and Exposition in Orlando

ACC.09 Special Sessions: Practice Administrators, Legal Issues and More

At ACC.09, attendees will find an interesting selection of Special Sessions on topics that don’t quite fit in the topic pathways or that relate to specific ACC activities, such as the Annual Business Meeting or the Annual Convocation.

For practice administrators, ACC, MedAxiom and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) have put together a four-hour program on Sunday, March 29. Programs topics include — Clinical: PQRI, Program Development, E-Rx, Quality; Operational: Workforce Impact; Financial: Joint Enhancements, MSOs, Product-Line Management, Group Purchasing, Insurance; Embedding Appropriateness Criteria: Is Your Practice Ready?; and Top Ten Things That Are Done Right and Wrong During Deals/Negotiations.

Also on Sunday is a session on Essentials of Cardiovascular Care in Older Adults, an important topic area as the Baby Boom population begins to age. On Monday, March 30, Medical Legal Issues in Cardiology takes place from 2 to 3:30 p.m. For more information about these and other programs, click here.

2009 Annual Scientific Session Program Chairs

Aaron D. Kugelmass,
M.D., F.A.C.C., Chair

Hani N. Sabbah, Ph.D., F.A.C.C., Co-Chair

Claudio D. Schuger, M.D., F.A.C.C., Co-Chair