ACC.08: The Cardiology World Comes to Chicago

ACC.08 offers unprecedented opportunities for professional development. Come to Chicago and find breaking news on scientific advances, practical information to take clinical skills to the next level, and abundant opportunities to network with experts and peers from around the world.

The 57th Annual Scientific Session can be tailored to your individual needs. Eight topic tracks feature programming for every interest, including enhanced coverage in congenital cardiology and quality of care. Spotlight sessions offer front-row seats to live cases from premier medical centers around the globe. New Clinical Focus Sessions explore the hottest clinical topics in-depth. Special programming designed by and for Fellows-in-Training and Cardiac Care Associates makes ACC.08 the place to be at every stage in your career.

And—as you’ve come to expect from ACC—the educational methods are as innovative as the programming: You-Que video clips place you front-and-center with the experts in the big-tent arena, Heart Songs help you refine critical auscultation skills with the aid of an iPod, and audience response systems let you decide who wins debates on controversial clinical topics.

Interested in interventional cardiology? Enhance your ACC.08 experience by also registering for The SCAI Annual Scientific Sessions in Partnership with ACC i2 Summit—and enjoy a comprehensive educational experience like none other. Click here for more information on SCAI-ACCi2.

ACC.08 Session Recordings

2008 Spotlight Sessions: Comprehensive Immersion Courses in Critical Areas of Cardiovascular Medicine

• Clinical Cardiology
• Electrophysiology
• Integrated Imaging
• Vascular Disease, Hypertension and Prevention
• NEW! Practice Innovation: Driving Revenue, Quality and Value
• NEW! Congenital Cardiology Solutions (CCS.08)

2008 Joint Symposia: Global Issues, Expert Answers

• Joint American College of Cardiology/European Society of Cardiology Symposium: Lipids
• Joint American College of Cardiology/American Black Cardiologists Symposium: Contemporary Issues Related to Cardiovascular Outcomes and Race/Ethnicity
• Joint International Symposium with National Cardiovascular Societies

NEW! Clinical Focus Sessions: In-depth Exploration of Hot Clinical Topics

• Mitral Regurgitation: Treatment Options in 2008
• Challenging Cases of Hyperlipidemia: One Drug or More? Case-Based Answers for Your Patients Who Ask ‘Am I Taking the Drugs That I Need and What Can I Cut Back On?’
• Defining Myocardial Viability, Mass and Function in 2008: Important Case-Based Questions and Answers
• Acute Coronary Syndromes: Am I Making the Correct Choices for My Patients in 2008?
• Imaging for HOCM in 2008: Guidelines, Technigues and Help With New 3-D Echo Generation and Analysis

2008 Topic Tracks: The Information You Need for the Medicine You Practice

• Cardiac Arrhythmias
• Cardiac Function and Heart Failure
• Congenital Cardiology Solutions
• Imaging and Diagnostic Testing
• Myocardial Ischemia and Infarction
• NEW! Quality of Care & Outcomes Assessment
• Valvular Heart Disease
• Vascular Disease, Hypertension and Prevention
• NEW! ACC.08 FIT Program
• NEW! Enhanced CCA Program

Education Innovations

  ACC.08 sets the standard for creative, lively education. Highlights include:

• You-Que @ ACC.08: What Will You Ask Them? Do you have a pressing question about the ACC/AHA guidelines on unstable angina and NSTEMI? Submit a video clip of yourself and our international all-star line-up of speakers might answer your question at ACC.08. Click here for more information.
• NEW! Knowledge Exchange Center (KEC). Located in the Exhibit Hall, the KEC is home to:
• Heart Songs: Improve your cardiac auscultation skills by listening to heart sounds on an iPod while viewing supplementary material on poster boards. Pre- and post-tests. Basic and advanced levels.
• 360° Education: Theater-in-the-round, up close and personal. Live demos, debates, panel discussions, and more. Click Here to View
• Hands-on simulation training.
• NEW! Best Poster Award. Candidates selected from each clinical topic track. Prizes awarded to the top three. Winners announced at the popular ACC.08 Highlights: Conversations with the Experts.
• E-posters. Can’t get to a vital poster session? Meeting registrants can view e-posters 24/7 from any computer terminal—anywhere, anytime.
• Heart Hubs. Relax with refreshments in a sports bar setting while ACC.08 and CVN-TV comes to you on plasma screens. Three convenient locations for networking and news watching.
• In selected sessions, audience response systems let you decide who wins debates on controversial clinical topics and tests your knowledge with case quizzes.

Guest Lectures

The most compelling figures in cardiovascular medicine on the most significant issues.

Simon Dack Lecture at the ACC.08 Scientific Showcase
Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Donald M. Berwick, M.D., M.P.P., F.R.C.P.

Louis F. Bishop Lecture
Monday, 10 – 11 a.m.
Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D.

Douglas P. Zipes Award Lecture
Monday, 10 – 11:30 a.m.
How to Identify the Asmptomatic High-Risk Patient—The Role of CT
Jeroen J. Bax

Tuesday, 1 – 2:30 p.m.
Combined Antiplatelet and Anticoagulant Therapy
Marc Steven Sabatine

Program Goals

• To facilitate worldwide knowledge acquisition and exchange regarding global issues and challenges related to cardiovascular care and disease prevention
• To offer education that integrates the best practices of cardiovascular specialists and related health care professionals working in multidisciplinary teams
• To provide a forum in which scientists and investigators working in cardiovascular disease can exchange new and continuing research
• To emphasize the translation of evidence-based cardiovascular science and clinical trial data into daily clinical practice
• To offer needs-based educational programming including the comprehensive review of current established practice patterns as well as state-of-the-art updates and techniques in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease
• To provide registrants with the opportunity to update their knowledge of available pharmaceuticals, medical devices and literature through interactions with industry representatives
• To disseminate information related to practice management, quality of care, ethical practices and other non-clinical topics of importance to practicing cardiovascular physicians
• To foster relationships between and within groups of cardiovascular professionals with similar clinical, geographic and/or educational interests

Target Audience
The Annual Scientific Session is intended for all professionals involved in delivering cardiovascular care, with particular emphasis on physicians, scientists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and nurses. Medical students and trainees, technicians, dietitians, administrators and other health care professionals will also benefit from various sessions and interaction with their cardiovascular colleagues. All registrants will be enriched through the comprehensive programming, stimulating discussions and the Exposition.