Lee Benson, MD, MSCAI; Daniel Gruenstein, MD, FSCAI; Julie A. Vincent, MD, FSCAI, FACC, FAAP
The 2020 SCAI Scientific Sessions are almost here. As interventional cardiologists or other professionals involved in the care of children or adults with Congenital Heart Disease, we are privileged to participate in one of the great success stories in modern medicine. As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, there is a tsunami of information to dissimulate. Attending the 2020 annual meeting will help you in learning what’s new, what works, and what doesn’t. If you have not registered, please keep reading!
As in past meetings, SCAI 2020 has a dedicated Learning Track devoted to interventional procedures for patients with congenital heart disease. The curriculum for the Congenital Heart Disease Track will be presented by experts and thought leaders in the field, in an environment that encourages a friendly, approachable discourse. We encourage attendee participation through questioning and discussion during the sessions and are informal enough to “corner” the speakers for more extensive individual conversations. In addition to the Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Track, there are four other Learning Tracks, which will provide comprehensive programs in structural, peripheral, and coronary interventions. Selectively visiting these Tracks will provide opportunities for crossover learning. This year’s SCAI meeting is at The Hyatt Regency Atlanta, May 13th through the 16th. This is a wonderful venue in a city which has unlimited cultural, culinary and entertainment options, and you can plan on warm sunny days! Being the home of CNN, this year’s SCAI Featured Speaker is Dr. Sanjy Gupta.
Just a few words about the Congenital Heart Disease Track Program.....The organizational theme of this year’s CHD Track is to address complications that occur in the interventional management of patients with CHD: awareness of the problems that can occur, how to avoid them through preparation and how to deal with them when they do occur. The sessions begin on Thursday afternoon, with our initial session on what we can learn from the past; registries and determination of who is at risk. Later that day we will examine various lesions and how to stay out of trouble. During the day a new session has been added with presentations of interesting interventional cases, followed by a moderated poster session. Our first full day, Friday, begins with oral CHD abstracts (a prize going to the best of the best; moderated or oral presentations). The PICES session this year, planning for complicated interventions and dealing with unpredictable complications, will be followed by the annual Mullin’s Lecture. This year the honor goes to Dr. Shak Qureshi, well-known to all of us as an innovator and teacher. This will be followed by our ‘I Blew It’ and ‘Cath Lab Jeopardy’ sessions, both looking at and poking fun at ourselves. On Saturday we pick up the theme of complications, taking a critical look at pulmonary vein stenosis, obstructions and ruptures, and other stuff that doesn’t go so well! Later in the day we will have a CHD live case presentation from San Diego and finally an ACHD debate on the advisability of closing that fenestration and what can happen down the road. As always, there will be opportunities to reunite and network with colleagues and old friends while we discuss the most important and the newest techniques and technologies in interventional congenital cardiology as we strive for Semper Ad Meliora! Your organizing committee has tried very hard to put together an interesting, comprehensive program. We hope you will join us in Atlanta! Register and download the advance program at www.scai.org/SCAI2020.
To read the full article, please go to the April 2020 Issue of CCT.