Summit Overview

The Kaufman Center for Heart Failure at Cleveland Clinic and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) are pleased to provide an educational event for all health care providers who specialize in the treatment of heart failure; 21st Century Treatment of Heart Failure: Synchronizing Surgical and Medical Therapies for Better Outcomes.  Two of America’s leading cardiovascular specialty organizations have come together to address the growing problem of heart failure and together they offer the most advanced review of the current and future medical and surgical treatments for this disease.

21st Century Treatment of Heart Failure will feature presentations by leading experts in cardiovascular medicine and cardiac surgery.

Topics will include:

• Insights into Controversial Medical and Surgical Treatments
• Strategies for Slowing Heart Failure Progression with the Use of CRT-D
• Quality Metrics and their Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Practice
• Management of Acute Myocardial Infarction and Shock
• Surgical Management of Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
• Cardio-Renal Interactions
• Patient Selection for Mechanical Circulatory Support
• Long Term Management of the Patient on Mechanical Circulatory Support
• Contemporary Experience with New Pumps

Program Objectives

Therapies for heart failure are continuously evolving.  This educational event will provide an opportunity to hear the latest reports and clinical trials on left ventricular assist device technologies, the current medical and surgical therapies for the heart failure population, expanding indications for electrical therapies, new insights into the cardio renal syndrome, and importantly, the increasing importance of quality and outcomes data in the care of this population.

Objectives

• Discuss critical decision making in the role of ICD’s and biventricular pacing in this population
• Describe the management of acute myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock
• Define the medical and surgical options available to promote reverse cardiac remodeling in heart failure
• Utilize quality metrics to improve outcomes in the heart failure population
• Discuss the role of the cardio-renal interaction in end stage heart failure
• Describe recent clinical trial data on the management of advanced heart failure with device therapy and how these data should be incorporated into clinical practice
• Review patient selection criteria for the use of implantable LVADS for heart failure treatment

Target Audience

The 2008 Heart Failure conference had 522 attendees representing 34 states and 19 countries in the following fields:

• Cardiology
• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Internal Medicine
• Cardiovascular Nursing
• Perfusion
• Pharmacy
• Research