Dear Friends and Members of the AEPC

This newsletter is written from Istanbul where we are still enjoying the 46th Annual Meeting of AEPC, held in the beautiful and historical surroundings of the Harbiye Military Museum. The meeting is being attended by almost 1000 delegates from all over the world.

The Update course on Fetal Cardiology was held by the Fetal Working Group in collaboration with the Working Groups for Morphology and Psycho-Social Care. The meeting was very well attended and included all aspects of fetal cardiology from studies of morphology and function early in pregnancy to fetal therapy, to discussions on quality of life and moral and ethical dilemmas.

Dr Roberto Canessa, during the Mannheimer lecture, shared his views on the current situation of Paediatric Cardiology in South America, as well as his personal experience from having survived an airplane crash in the Andes in 1972. His memorable lecture was followed by a vibrant music and dance performance.

The important role of collaboration between AEPC and other societies is reflected in the scientific programme. The plenary session, “Persistent Arterial Trunk” is held together with the Japanese Society for Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (JSPCCS), and the session on “Controversies in Coarctation Management” with EACTS (European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery, Congenital Domain). All Working Groups have made important contribution to the scientific programme by preparing sessions on recent advances within their fields. Several Working Groups have also prepared joint sessions, e.g. the Working Groups for Dysrhythmia together with Basic Science and Morphology, the Working Group of Psychosocial Care together with the Working Group for GUCH, the Interventional Working Group with the GUCH Task Force and the Interventional Working Group together with the Working Group for Intensive Care. A total of 481 abstracts will be presented as posters or during abstract sessions.

On behalf of the Council and all the AEPC members, we congratulate Professor Alpay Celiker and the local team in Istanbul to a meeting that has already proved to be very successful.

The Business Meeting

Approximately 75 delegates attended the Business Meeting. A total of 94 new members were introduced and welcomed during the Business Meeting, AEPC now has approximately 1200 members. Three new members of the Council were elected, Eero Jokinen as President-Elect, Konrad Brockmeier as Scientific Secretary and Ornella Milanesi as Councillor. Beatrice Bonello has previously been elected as the new junior representative.

The Working Group for Genetics and Basic Science are planning to include “Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases”. In addition, a Task Force for Paediatric Cardiovascular Drugs will be created with a nucleus of 6 persons who will liaise with the Working Groups and the national delegates in matters concerning drug trials.

Many of our AEPC members are involved in Charity Work. In order to increase the information about such activities and to be able to stimulate Charity Work, a questionnaire has been produced by Ulrike Salzer-Muhar and Lena Eschenbach. It is available on the AEPC web and we invite you to visit it and enter your data.

Future Meetings

The Annual Meeting of the JSPCCS will be held in Kyoto in July 2012. AEPC will participate with 3 delegates (Juan Comas, Brigitte Stiller, Nico Blom). The 3 European winners of the Young Investigators Award will also be invited to participate.

The World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Paediatric Surgery will take place in Cape Town, February 22–26, 2013, please see the letter below for more information. The World Congress is arranged in collaboration with the AEPC and separate AEPC sessions will be held during the meeting.

The Annual Meeting in 2013 will take place in London between May 21 and 25 and preparations are proceeding.

The Annual Meeting in 2014 will be held in Helsinki.

For the meeting in 2015, 3 bids were received, from the Czech Republic, Italy and Greece and the bids were presented during the Business Meeting. A ballot was performed by a show of hands and it was decided that Prague will host the Annual AEPC Meeting in 2015. Proposals and bids for the Annual Meeting in 2016 are welcome.

We are looking forward to meeting you all in future meetings, especially our own annual AEPC Meetings. All contacts with the council are appreciated and welcome.

Shak Qureshi Katarina Hanseús

President AEPC Secretary-General

6^th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, 17–22 February 2012

The “6 ^th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery” will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in February 2013. This will be the biggest and most important event in childrens heart health and disease ever! The Association for European Paediatric Cardiology (AEPC) supports the World Congress and continues to collaborate in the development of the scientific and academic programme.

The 6^th World Congress will build on the foundation established through previous World Congresses from Paris in 1993, through Cairns, Australia, in 2009. The best international faculty available promises an exceptional scientific programme across the different disciplines, from interventions, procedures and operations through critical care. However, the limitations to developing cardiac care in the presence of financial, managerial and human resource constraints are problems shared between colleagues from both well developed and less well-resourced countries. Science alone will not meet these challenges and public policy developers, health system managers, health economists and planners will engage with the health systems solutions necessary to initiate, develop and improve cardiac care for children and adults.

There are 5 “tracks” for delegates to follow at the Congress. Parallel sessions mean you can switch across tracks as you please. All scientific sessions at this Congress are open to every delegate i.e. you are not hostage to any of the 5 tracks on any day or at any time. The “tracks” are as follows,

• • CARDIOLOGY AND THE IMAGING REVOLUTION

• • CATHETER INTERVENTIONS FROM FOETUS TO ADULT

• • HEALTH SYSTEMS AND HEART DISEASE

• • SURGERY AND INTENSIVE CARE

• • ADULTS CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE

Registration (take advantage of super early bird discounts) and the call for abstracts (deadline 31 July 2012) are now open. Cape Town is a sublime and compelling African destination. We look forward to welcoming our colleagues from the AEPC to our city and our country.

For more information, visit www.pccs2013.co.za