Acute Cardiovascular Care 2015 to be held in Vienna from 17 to 19 October

Acute Cardiovascular Care 2015 will highlight innovations and controversies in the field, guaranteeing great stories on topics relevant to the press.

The conference is held 17 to 19 October 2015 in Vienna, Austria at the HOFBURG Vienna congress centre. It is the annual meeting of the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

Acute cardiovascular care is the specialty of cardiology dealing with acute problems in need of urgent care including heart attack, cardiac arrest, and acute heart failure, but also other conditions leading to acute cardiovascular problems such as pulmonary embolism or stroke. The scientific programme is available here: http://spo.escardio.org/default.aspx?eevtid=1101&showResults=False

"The main theme this year is innovations in acute cardiovascular care," said Professor Kurt Huber, Chairperson of the Scientific Programme Committee.

He continued: "Novelties will be presented and discussed throughout the abstracts and symposia. To take one example, in a session on innovations in acute heart failure, experts will present the latest data on new treatments such as vasodilator therapy, ventricular-arterial coupling, an interatrial decompression device, and mechanical support."

"Journalists may be particularly interested in sessions covering controversies in clinical practice that are heavily discussed among physicians," said Professor Huber. "These include pre-treatment (pre-hospital) of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), the use of bivalirudin versus heparin during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), thrombus aspiration in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and early management after out of hospital cardiac arrest."

Developments in the field and thought-provoking opinion will be presented in numerous areas of interest to the press. Antiplatelet therapy in ACS patients is a hot topic and research will be revealed on the duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). Biomarkers are a rapidly evolving area and new rule in and rule out strategies in myocardial infarction using high sensitive troponin assays and the new marker copeptin will be debated.

Original research findings will be released on the emergency situation of aortic aneurysm. Also of importance to the media is the treatment of pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) with non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs), a subject included in the programme for the first time this year.

Other crucial topics have been added to the scientific programme such as antithrombotic therapy, atrial fibrillation, treatment of bleeding, interventional cardiology, pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), external heart pumps, and stroke systems of care.

A novel ESC position paper on the pre-hospital management of chest pain and dyspnoea will be distributed during the meeting.1 First author Professor Farzin Beygui said: "The position paper is the first symptom based paper ever published on the subject covering the wide spectrum of cardiovascular acute conditions that may cause chest pain or dyspnoea (acute coronary syndromes, aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism, pericarditis, acute heart failure, tamponade)."

Professor Beygui continued: "Its aim is to provide guidance which may be applicable in all European countries despite the variety of emergency medical services (EMS), for the pre-hospital management of the above mentioned conditions, based on evidence where available or expert opinion and consensus."

The paper may provoke controversy over its recommendation for physician based EMS. Unlike most EMS worldwide, the majority of EMS in Europe are physician-based. Because a high level of pre-hospital care may require emergency physicians on scene, the paper recommends a physician-based EMS organisation with the availability of emergency physicians in the case of chest pain or acute dyspnoea of suspected cardiac origin.

"This point is based on expert consensus and not striking evidence," said Professor Beygui. "The presence of a physician may improve pre-hospital diagnosis (ultrasound), allow higher rates of reperfusion therapy especially by pre-hospital fibrinolysis, provide higher levels of competence for treating life threatening conditions and more accurate identification of the destination for patient transfer."

Members of the press attending Acute Cardiovascular Care 2015 will join more than 1 000 cardiologists, emergency physicians, intensive care physicians, internists, surgeons, imaging specialists, interventionists, nurses, paramedics and students from nearly 80 countries.

The three day event features over 45 sessions with lectures from thought leaders from around the globe and breaking results in the abstract-based programme. A rapid fire abstract session will showcase the best abstracts and innovations and get journalists up to speed in a number of fields.

Professor Huber said: "Reporters who want to stay one step ahead of their rivals should attend Acute Cardiovascular Care in Vienna. State-of-the-art advances in emergency cardiac care are set to be unveiled, making it an event not to be missed."