The European Society of Cardiology Congress 2010, the world’s biggest international meeting in Cardiology will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, from 28 August to 1 September 2010.

The scientific programme for this year’s ESC Congress is now complete and promises to provide journalists with a rich source of front-page news stories and background for strong topical features.

The spotlight of ESC Congress 2010 will be coronary artery disease (CAD), ‘from genes to outcome’, which the chairperson of this year’s programme committee, Professor Fausto Pinto, describes as still the number one cause of death in the developed world. ‘What we’ll be seeing in this year’s programme,’ he says, ‘is how developments in basic science are now being translated into clinical progress in the early diagnosis and treatment of CAD. This is an area which involves the laboratory and the clinic, and a range of specialists which includes technicians and nurses, family doctors and consultant cardiologists. They will all play a part in this year’s programme.’

ESC Congress 2010 will take place at Stockholmsmässan in Stockholm and journalists planning to attend are invited to register via the media section of the ESC website.

Last year’s ESC Congress in Barcelona attracted almost 32,000 registered participants (as well as 750 registered press), making it the largest medical meeting in the world; this year’s event promises a similar attendance, and a similar opportunity for reporting developments of major public health importance.

Press support in Stockholm will be concentrated on three press conferences per day (from Sunday to Tuesday), which are led each morning by the late-breaking results of trials selected for Hot Line sessions. These are studies (many of which are reported simultaneously and under embargo in the leading medical journals) whose outcomes will shape the treatment of cardiovascular disease in the years to come, and which traditionally provide front-page news across the world. This year, says Professor Pinto, Hot Line sessions will feature results from major trials in coronary intervention, arrhythmias, and heart failure. A record number of Hot Line submissions has been received this year, ensuring that those selected for Stockholm (35 in total) are all of high impact.

The press conference programme will also feature developments gleaned from smaller studies in disease prevention (including children, sports, marathon running, gene profiling, lifestyle and diet), antiplatelet therapy (including drug interactions with proton pump inhibitors), stroke risk and treatment, coronary intervention and heart failure. This year, these press presentations have been selected with an eye on their public health appeal and public interest, and we are sure many of the smaller studies featured will provide attractive news angles. This year saw almost 10,000 abstracts submitted for the free communication sessions, of which 4,000 have been selected.

Also new in 2010 is a one-day programme on Saturday 28 August for primary care physicians and nurses. The programme is open to all but has been designed with Scandinavians in mind, and this too may provide much local interest. The congress’s opening press conference will also take place on this Saturday, at 9.00 am.

ESC Congress 2010 promises once again to be the world’s major event in cardiovascular medicine. We encourage you to mark the dates in your diary, and to contact the ESC press office for further information.

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