3rd Symposium on Rare Cardiovascular Diseases – ESC Amsterdam 2013: Chairperson’s Perspective

The 3 rd Satellite Symposium on Rare Cardiovascular Diseases, which was organized by the Krakow Center for Rare Cardiovascular Diseases, was officially included in the Program of the 2013 ESC Congress and was held in the ESC Congress Venue on 2 nd September 2013. The session was chaired by the world-class heart failure specialist Professor John Cleland from Kingston-upon-Hull, UK and Doctor Pawel Rubis from Krakow, Poland. In brief, the session program followed the previously established layout of two introductory and final mini-lectures, the keynote lecture and two case-based presentations. The session was opened by the Director of the Krakow Center for Rare Cardiovascular Diseases, Professor Piotr Podolec, who delivered lecture on newly developed, by the joint effort of many Experts and Partners, the Classification of Rare Cardiovascular Diseases. The Keynote Lecture, entitled “ New Frontiers in cardiac surgery treatment of patients wi th rare cardiovascular diseases ” was delivered by the Professor Ottavio Alfieri from Milan, Italy. The first case on the management of p regnant patient with heart failure on the basis of end stage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with secondary pulmonary hypertension, was presented by Doctor Lidia Tomkiewicz-Pająk and commented by Professor Sabine Pankuweit from Marburg, Germany and Professor Deddo Moertl from St. Poelten, Austria. The second case on the management of middle-age woman with unoperated tetralogy of Fallot  and concomitant aortic stenosis was delivered by Associate to Professor Andrzej Gackowski, and discussed by Professor Egle Erminiene from Kaunas, Lithuania and Doctor Jakub Podolec from Krakow Center . The final presentation was given by Doctor Grzegorz Kopec from our Center who focused on the registries of rare cardiovascular diseases. This year, the great debate concentrated on the newly-proposed Classification of Rare Cardiovascular Diseases.