What’s in store for cardiology at CSANZ 2020 meeting?

By Mardi Chapman

2 Dec 2020

Pre-recorded breakfast podcasts, evening highlights sessions live online, and new streams of genetics and prevention, are just some of the program features at the upcoming 68th Annual Scientific Meeting of the CSANZ.

Delivered as a largely virtual event courtesy of COVID-19, but with face-to-face opportunities at meeting hubs in Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Wellington, CSANZ Virtual 2020 offers the best of both formats.

The program is heavy with local and overseas talent across its various membership disciplines and program streams.

Some of the international faculty include:

  • Professor Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute (US) – cardiovascular impact of COVID-19 (Sun, 12.20 pm)
  • Profesor Weijing Hiuang, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (China) – physiologic pacing (Fri, 2.50 pm)
  • Professor Nadine Kasparian, founding director of the Cincinnati Children’s Centre for Heart Disease and Mental Health (US) – neurocognitive impairments from foetus to adulthood (Fri, 11.30 am)
  • Professor Nicholas Mills, The University of Edinburgh – troponin assays in clinical practice: the cutting edge (Fri, 4.20 pm)
  • Professor Erin Michos, John Hopkins School of Medicine (US) – the uniqueness of ischaemic heart disease in women (Sun, 9.30am)

Associate Professor Peter Psaltis, Scientific Program Chair for CSANZ Virtual 2020, told the limbic the new streams of genetics and prevention had been on the radar for a while and that both were fundamental to everything cardiologists do.

“We’re trying to embrace the new frontiers of digital technology which we have included in this virtual program especially through the prevention group.”

For example, in the On Demand section of the meeting, a CSANZ/ESC Joint Session on Digital Health will cover remote management of heart failure, personal ultrasound and tele-cardiac investigations in rural Australia.

“I think the genetics section is going to have some really great content on aortopathy – diseases of the aorta in which one of our overseas speakers, Professor Dianna Milewicz [University of Texas] is very well regarded,” he said.

“Sudden cardiac death will obviously get some airtime as it should.”

“There will be a fair bit on inflammation during the meeting as a risk factor for particularly atherosclerotic disease, which we have known about for a little while but now the data is getting stronger. And Australia has led the way there with the colchicine-based studies.”

“One of our pre-recorded sessions will be three different researchers talking about their colchicine-based research plus a roundtable Q&A discussion on repurposing a pretty cheap drug to tackle the residual burden of atherosclerosis.”

Also on inflammation, Professor Paul Ridker, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (US) will present the RT Hall Lecture: 100 years from C-reactive protein to anti-cytokine therapy for atherosclerosis: A history of discovery. (Fri, 9 am)

Other named lecturers include:

  • Associate Professor Julie Mundy – the Victor Chang Memorial Lecture (Sun, 10.50am)
  • Professor Vlado Perkovic – the Gaston Bauer Lecture (Fri, 1pm)
  • Professor Karlheinz Peter – the Kempson Maddox Lecture. (Sat, 9am)

Both live and pre-recorded sessions at CSANZ Virtual 2020 will be online 11-13 December. Follow the news on Twitter @thelimbiccardio and #CSANZ2020

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