International Congress on Geriatric Cardiology and Non-invasive Cardiac Imaging in conjunction with XVI Annual International Conference "Cardiology Update"

The International Congress on Geriatric Cardiology and Noninvasive Cardiac Imaging was held on May 27-29, 2009 in Tyumen, Russia in conjunction with the XVI Annual Conference “Cardiology Update”.
The congress was organized by Tyumen Cardiology Center with support of the International Society of Cardiovascular Ultrasound (ISCU), Society of Cardiology of the Russian Federation, and the Russian Gerontological Scientific Clinical Center.

More than 500 attendees from 6 countries (Russia, USA, Bangladesh, Latvia, India, Turkey) and 14 regions of Russia took part in the congress. With the abstracts submitted for publication in the Congress Abstract Book, the total number of the countries that participated in the meeting was 12 (additionally: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, the Ukraine, and Luxembourg). Outstanding foreign specialists Prof. Navin Nanda (USA), Prof. Rajendra Seth (USA), Prof. Kul Aggarwal (USA), Prof. Abdullah Majumder (Bangladesh), Prof. Hanumanth Reddy (USA), Prof. Vijayaraghavan Govindan (India) and others as well as leading Russian scientists Prof. Vladimir Shabalin (Moscow, Russia), Prof. Vadim Kuznetsov (Tyumen, Russia), Prof. Elena Pavliukova (Tomsk, Russia) and others delivered lectures at the meeting.

Presidents of the congress were Prof. Navin Nanda, President of ISCU; Director, Heart Station/Echocardiography Laboratories, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA and Prof. Vadim Kuznetsov, Director of Tyumen Cardiology Center; Chairman of the Russian Chapter of ISCU, Tyumen, Russia. Chairman of the Scientific Committee was Prof. Vladimir Shabalin, Director of Russian Gerontological Scientific Clinical Center, Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia.

The congress was organized with support of industry partners and 4 informative sponsors. The general sponsors were Exten Medical and Boston Scientific; the official sponsors were Cordis, Medtronic and Biosense Webster. Within the congress the exhibition of 23 pharmaceutical companies and companies producing medical equipment was held.

The scientific program of the congress included 6 plenary and 1 concurrent sessions devoted to important aspects of geriatric cardiology and noninvasive cardiac imaging, such as echocardiography as an noninvasive imaging technique, the role of beta-blockers in the modern therapy of arterial hypertension, modern conception of the ageing process, cardiovascular diseases in geriatric patients, cardiac resynchronization therapy, opportunities of modern implantable devices, organ protection, age peculiarities and cardiovascular pathology, innovations in treatment of patients with arterial hypertension, treating patients with atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter, interventional arrhythmology and others. Besides, there were 3 symposia, a workshop on cardiac arrhythmias and a poster session. The best posters presented were given acknowledgements and prizes.

Apart from the various scientific program an interesting cultural exchange program was prepared for the participants. During the three-day congress all the guests had the opportunity to join survey excursions around Tyumen. On May 28 faculties visited Yalutorovsk, a small town not far from Tyumen, famous for its museum complex incorporating memorial houses of Decembrists. On May 30 a post-congress tour to another ancient Russian town, Tobolsk, a well-known tourist center of Siberia, was organized. The eventful day tour was enjoyed by everybody. And traditionally, there was a gala-dinner and a farewell party with a musical program, dances and tasty national food.

Due to active attendance, high scientific level and good organization, it is generally agreed that the congress was a big success.