The 8th World Congress of Echocardiography and Vascular Ultrasound, Antalya, Turkey, May 6‐9, 2004

The 8th World Congress of Echocardiography and Vascular Ultrasound was recently held in Antalya, Turkey. Over 600 participants from all over the world attended the meeting. The first day was dedicated to the Turkish Society of Cardiology Echocardiography Working Group Meeting and the Opening Ceremony, which included vocalization of a poem called “Echo and Narcissus” by the Turkish poet Melih Cevdet Anday, as well as a classical music concert of themes specifically composed by the famous musician Tuluyhan Ugurlu, based on the mythology of Echo and Narcissus, integrating the myth and science of Echocardiography. Over the following three-day period, a comprehensive coverage of echocardiography and vascular ultrasound was accomplished. Various sessions were dedicated to important topics including valvular heart disease, prosthetic heart valves, contrast echocardiography, infective endocarditis, stress echocardiography, development of new techniques, heart failure, coronary heart disease, right ventricular function, future perspectives in echocardiography including 3-D echocardiography, cardiomyopathies, diastolic heart failure, diseases of the aorta, atrial septal defects and PFO, cardiac sources of emboli, ventricular hypertrophy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Additionally, industry-sponsored satellite symposia were conducted including symposia on cardiac strain rate imaging, contrast echocardiography and echocardiography in cardiac resynchronization therapy. A large number of abstracts and posters were presented. On May 9th, an abstract Award Ceremony was held in recognition of the best abstracts presented at the meeting. In addition to faculty from Turkey, faculty members from 25 countries participated. International faculty included speakers from Austria, Australia, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kosova, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Gala night and dinner were celebrated on Saturday, May 8th, 2004. The president of the International Cardiac Ultrasound Society, Dr. Navin Nanda, from the University of Alabama, Birmingham, USA and the president of the 8th World Conference, Dr. Mehmet Ozkan, addressed the gathering. Dr. Navin Nanda was presented an award in recognition of his contributions to the field of Echocardiography and his efforts in ensuring success of the Congress. The Conference President was inducted as a Distinguished Fellow of the International Society of Cardiovascular Ultrasound. The Secretary of the Congress, Dr. M. Serdar Kucukoglu was also honored as a Fellow of the Society. The faculty had the occasion to meet with old friends and to exchange ideas with experts in the field of Echocardiography from all over the world. Food was plentiful, everyone was hospitable and polite and the Congress was extremely well-organized. The weather in Antalya was gorgeous with temperatures in the 70 to 75 degree Fahrenheit range and mostly sunny. Faculty and attendees made pre-conference or post-conference short trips to some of the many beautiful attractions in Turkey. The city of Antalya is located on the Mediterranean coast with its quaint marina, turquoise water and the old city made it a relaxing place to visit. There were several nearby attractions including the ancient ruins of Perge and the Roman amphitheatre of Aspendos, which is still in use as an outdoor arena, seating 15,000 people. Further away, the most popular destinations were Istanbul, Cappadocia and the ancient city of Ephesus. Cappadocia has unique rock formations and has numerous caves and underground cities from the ancient times. It was a most interesting, successful and educational meeting. The next World Echo Conference will be held in Marrakech, Morocco from September 15th to 17th, 2005 and it promises to be another exciting meeting in a most wonderful location.