This report originally appeared in the May 2009 issue of DOTmed Business News

The World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery will be held June 21-26, 2009, at the Convention Center in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. The five-day premier meeting is only held once every four years and gives those attending an opportunity to network with approximately 2,500 delegates from all over the world. "This will be the ninth World Congress of pediatric cardiology and/or cardiac surgery and the fifth joint World Congress of the combined groups," says Chairman of Congress Organizing Committee, Dr. James Wilkinson. "It brings together surgeons and cardiologists who deal primarily with congenital heart defects, both in childhood and in adult life."

The theme for the meeting is "Beyond the Barrier" (a play on the name of the adjacent Great Barrier Reef) and reflects the enormous advances that have occurred over recent years and reach far beyond the barriers of what was believed possible just a few years ago. "The program will cover subjects that are of interest to numerous disciplines including pediatric cardiology, pediatric anesthesia, pediatric intensive care and pediatric cardiac surgery," says Dr. Wilkinson. The age range of affected patients ranges from the fetus, for whom detailed diagnosis is now feasible, through infancy, childhood and adolescence and into advanced adult life. A number of adult cardiologists and surgeons who deal with congenital heart disease in the adult population will also participate in the Congress.
The meetings will incorporate a series of specialty meetings during the first two/three days (Sunday - Tuesday), which will be followed by a series of half day sessions (Wednesday - Thursday) with simultaneous "focus" sessions exploring a wide range of topics in detail. Free abstract sessions will also take place during this section of the meeting and an afternoon will explore highlights of the specialty meetings in a concise form, for delegates who attended other specialty meetings and want to catch up on what was covered elsewhere. Friday will have a large plenary session, which will include five Landmark Lectures on major areas of importance to delegates - Morphology of congenital Heart Disease (Robert Anderson, London), Pediatric Cardiology (Andrew Redington, Toronto), Intensive Care (Gil Wernovsky, Philadelphia), Surgery (Pascale Vouhe, Paris) and Nursing (Kathy Mussato, Wisconsin).

Robert Anderson, MD will deliver the Landmark Lecture on Morphology. He retired in 2007 from the Joseph Levy Professorship of Pediatric Cardiac Morphology at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Royal Brompton Hospital. He now travels as a Visiting Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Anderson is regarded as one of the most prominent authorities on the pathology of the congenitally malformed heart. In addition to his Landmark Lecture, he will also deliver the Stella Van Praagh Memorial Lecture to the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery during its meeting on Monday June 22nd, which is a joint meeting with the World Congress and is one of three specialty meetings.

The Landmark Lecture on Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care will be delivered by Dr. Gil Wernovsky, Director of Program Development at The Cardiac Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Medical Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. He has been an invited lecturer and visiting professor throughout the world, has co-edited four textbooks and published nearly 200 chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals. He will also deliver several invited presentations during different segments of the Congress.