The 2017 Seventh World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery: “The Olympics of our Profession”

Abstract

The 1st World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology was held in London, United Kingdom, in 1980, organised by Dr Jane Somerville and Prof. Fergus Macartney. The idea was that of Jane Somerville, who worked with enormous energy and enthusiasm to bring together paediatric cardiologists and surgeons from around the world. The 2nd World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology took place in New York in 1985, organised by Bill Rashkind, Mary Ellen Engle, and Eugene Doyle. The 3rd World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology was held in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1989, organised by Chompol Vongraprateep. Although cardiac surgeons were heavily involved in these early meetings, a separate World Congress of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery was held in Bergamo, Italy, in 1988, organised by Lucio Parenzan. Thereafter, it was recognised that surgeons and cardiologists working on the same problems and driven by a desire to help children would really rather meet together. A momentous decision was taken to initiate a Joint World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. A steering committee was established with membership comprising the main organisers of the four separate previous Congresses and additional members were recruited in an effort to achieve numerical equality of cardiologists and surgeons and a broad geographical representation. The historic 1st “World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery” took place in Paris in June, 1993, organised by Jean Kachaner. The next was to be held in Japan, but the catastrophic Kobe earthquake in 1995 forced relocation to Hawaii in 1997. Then followed Toronto, Canada, 2001, organised by Bill Williams and Lee Benson; Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2005, organised by Horatio Capelli and Guillermo Kreutzer; Cairns, Australia, 2009, organised by Jim Wilkinson; Cape Town, South Africa, 2013, organised by Christopher Hugo-Hamman; and Barcelona, Spain, 2017, organised by Sertac Cicek. With stops in Europe (1993), Asia-Pacific (1997), North America (2001), South America (2005), Australia (2009), Africa (2013), and Europe again (2017), in 2021, The World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery will be held for the first time in the continental United States.¹ The 8th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery will be held in Washington DC, United States of America, 19–24 September, 2021, and will be organised by Jeffrey P. Jacobs and Gil Wernovsky. Mitchell I. Cohen served as the Scientific Program Co-Chair for the 2017 World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, and he will again serve as the Scientific Program Co-Chair for the 2021 World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery along with Kathyrn Dodds RN, MSN, CRNP. Information about the upcoming 8th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery can be found at www.WCPCCS2021.org

The World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery is held every 4 years and represents in many ways the “Olympics” for healthcare professionals caring for children with cardiac disease and adults with congenital cardiac disease. The World Congress dates back to 1980 when Jane Somerville and Professor Fergus Macartney organised the 1st World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology in London, United Kingdom (Table 1). It was their vision and dedication to a combined cardiology and surgical meeting that conceptualised and implemented the First joint World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery in Paris, France, in June, 1993. This meeting has since crossed oceans and continents and has taken place in Hawaii (1997), Toronto (2001), Buenos Aires (2005), Cairns (2009), and Cape Town (2013).

Table 1 The history of The World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.

Istanbul

Through the excellent stewardship of the World Congress Steering Committee, Istanbul was chosen as the site for the 2017 World Congress. Istanbul is the only city in the world that is located on two continents, Europe and Asia, bridged by the splendor of the Bosphorus River. The city is a melting pot of cultures, races, traditions, and customs whose history and civilisation blend within the ancient and modern world. Istanbul has metamorphosed into a cosmopolitan city of arts, music, culture, food, and technology. Istanbul seemed to be the perfect backdrop for hosting the 2017 World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Unfortunately, as a result of the geopolitical turmoil that continues to plague our world, World Congress relocated to Barcelona, Spain. Although disappointed that attendees could not appreciate the beauty of Istanbul, the Mediterranean city of Barcelona proved to be an excellent substitute.

Barcelona

The 7th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery took place on 16–21 July, 2017, in Barcelona Spain. The aim of the world congress is to bring together all professionals involved in the care of children with cardiac disease and adults with congenital cardiac disease, with patients ranging in age from the fetus to the adult. The central philosophy of the Congress was “bridging together” all major subspecialties within the field. Accordingly, the scientific programme was carefully planned and constructed to address all interests and expertise with concentration streams on paediatric cardiology, paediatric cardiac surgery, adults with congenital cardiac disease, anaesthesia, intensive care, and nursing. The planning for this meeting by Drs. Sertac Cicek and Levant Saltik began more than 10 years ago with five key aims:

• ∙ First, the World Congress aimed to be an interactive meeting that involved experts in the field of paediatric cardiac surgery and paediatric cardiac medicine to ensure development and networking opportunities.

• ∙ Second, the World Congress aimed to initiate an advancement and development of cardiac care for children.

• ∙ Third, the World Congress aimed to increase the visibility of the inadequacies in the field, which are still present in many countries, and to provide a pathway for action where most necessary.

• ∙ Fourth, the World Congress aimed to aid the spread of knowledge regarding cardiac care to regions with limited access.

• ∙ Last, the World Congress aimed to evaluate and reflect on 4 years of advancement within this field.

  In all of these primary aims, the meeting was a huge success!

  The meeting took place over 5 days and began with a wonderful preconference of eight simultaneous satellite symposiums.

• ∙ Fetal Cardiology involving a review of fetal imaging, physiology, and dysrhythmias.

• ∙ Neurodevelopmental assessment of the high-risk patient with risk stratification and varying models of treatment in North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim.

• ∙ Innovation and a look to the future involving data interpretation, nanomedicine, regenerative and genomic medicine, and use of artificial intelligence.

• ∙ Quality Initiatives, Assessment, and Team Collaboration.

• ∙ 5th International Summit on Nomenclature for Pediatric and CHD with release of the latest version of the International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code (IPCCC), which will become the 11th iteration of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).

• ∙ Pediatric Sports Cardiology and Sudden Cardiac Death Prevention and Awareness, which was held at the Camp Nou Barcelona Soccer Stadium.

On Sunday afternoon, Dr Cicek opened the 7th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Throughout the course of the next 5 days, the meeting was organised into breakout sessions in the fields of surgery, ambulatory cardiology, imaging, interventional cardiology, intensive care, electrophysiology, adults with congenital cardiac disease, genetics, nursing, rheumatic and acquired heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, transplant, anaesthesia, perfusion, and a section on administration. Interwoven within these breakouts were abstract presentations, debates, honorary lectures, and hands-on sessions. All told, there were 3048 total participants representing 110 countries showcasing the multicultural international diverse nature of the meeting (Fig 1). This global heterogeneous composite of speakers, moderators, and attendees created an atmosphere that fostered discussions about best practices and avenues for improvement. Overall, 3048 abstracts were presented from 110 countries, truly reflecting the international nature of this meeting (Fig 2). We all learned from this collaborative open exchange of information.

Figure 1 Attendees. In all, 110 different countries were represented among the 3048 total participants attending the 7th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Fifty-six different countries were represented by the 590 faculty members either speaking or moderating the sessions.

Figure 2 Abstracts. The World Congress saw multiple exceptional abstracts highlighted throughout the course of the meeting. There were 3048 abstracts presented from 110 countries truly reflecting the international nature of this meeting.

However, the sharing of knowledge across disciplines came through in the Bridging Sessions. Designed to represent the Bosphorus Bridge that spans Europe and Asia, these sessions bridged disciplines. These sessions sparked discussions and challenged speakers and audience members to think outside of a myopic singular discipline, as exemplified by the following sessions:

• ∙ Imaging, rheumatic, and Kawasaki disease

  1. o Latest imaging technology to evaluate coronaries

  2. o Screening for rheumatic heart disease globally

• ∙ Ventricular assist device, heart failure, and intensive care

  1. o Challenging patients

  2. o Chronic care of the ventricular assist device patient

  3. o Minimising complications while on a ventricular assist device

• ∙ Surgery and nursing challenging cases

  1. o Cases from United States of America, South Africa, and India

• ∙ Electrophysiology and ambulatory cardiology

  1. o Syncope, chest pain, premature ventricular contractions, Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome

• ∙ Surgery and ambulatory cardiology

  1. o Ebsteins

  2. o Aortopathies

• ∙ Surgery and anaesthesia

  1. o Normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass

  2. o Early extubation pro/con debate

• ∙ Electrophysiology and adults with CHD

  1. o Understanding risks of sudden cardiac death

  2. o Living with devices

  3. o Using imaging to identify at-risk patients

Throughout the course of the meeting, all attendees gathered in the large theatre for a number of plenary sessions designed to provide the latest insight from leaders in their particular discipline. Dr Richard Jonas opened the scientific programme with an excellent talk on his experience regarding teamwork in caring for the child and the family. This talk is published in this December, 2017 issue of Cardiology in the Young. Dr Jonas’ talk was followed later that evening with talks by an international panel of experts speaking about outcomes, quality, and transparency. The 2nd day of the meeting began with an incredible and provocative talk by Dr Carol Warnes presented in honour of her mentor Dr Jane Somerville. Dr Warren spoke about caring for adults with congenital cardiac disease and the “need to be imperfect”. Dr John Deanfield provided an incredible lecture on his years of clinical research when he discussed the “lifetime management of cardiovascular risk: investing in your arteries”. On the second evening, a plenary session on the total cavopulmonary connection was dedicated to Francois Fontan and Billy Kreutzer. The remainder of the World Congress had two large plenaries on The Past, Present, and Future of Heart Transplantation – 50 years Beyond Barnard, and a second plenary about tetralogy of Fallot and beyond.

One of the traditions of the World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery centres on the Landmark Lectures in each of the main disciplines within our field. The following awesome Landmark Lectures were presented at 2017 7th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, and most of these Landmark Lectures are published in the December issue of Cardiology in the Young:

• ∙ Leadership through the spirit of musical conductors

  1. o Dan Penny (United States of America/United Kingdom)

• ∙ The future of paediatric cardiothoracic surgery

  1. o Pedro del Nido (United States of America)

• ∙ A life-cycle perspective on CHD: what happens beyond your clinic?

  1. o Phillip Moons (the Netherlands)

• ∙ Emerging management of aortopathies and ACHD along the Pacific Rim

  1. o Kochiro Niwa (Japan)

• ∙ Continuums and conundrums in paediatric intensive care and anaesthesia

  1. o Peter Laussen (Canada)

• ∙ Interventional cardiology: the past, present, and future

  1. o Ziyad Hijazi (Qatar)

• ∙ Generations of congenital heart surgeons

  1. o Vaughn Starnes (United States of America)

     In the final analysis, the 7th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery

  2. o had multiple excellent talks by world-renowned leaders,

  3. o was captivating and thought-provoking, and

  4. o challenged us as a community of healthcare cardiac providers to do better both locally and globally.

The five goals initially set out by Drs. Cicek and Saltik were not only achieved but they were surpassed. The organisers should be congratulated for their fortitude in continuing the meeting, never giving up, even amidst all of the challenges they faced. The future of paediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery is promising!! We look forward to seeing the growth and advancements in our field over the next 4 years when the 8th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery takes place in Washington, DC, United States of America, 19–24 September, 2021.