Fifty-Third Annual Meeting, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Abstract

The 53rd Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, January 21–25, 2017. Registrants included more than 4,100 surgeons, allied health care professionals, exhibitors, and others. Attendees had the opportunity to participate in a variety of dynamic oral and hands-on educational sessions. The General Sessions were well attended. Monday’s session featured three J. Maxwell Chamberlain Memorial Papers: Adult Cardiac Surgery—“Natural History of Moderate Coronary Artery Stenosis After Surgical Revascularization”; General Thoracic Surgery—“Prediction of Long-Term Survival Following Lung Cancer Surgery for Elderly Patients in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database”; and Congenital Heart Surgery—“The Optimal Timing of Stage-2 Palliation After the Norwood Operation: A Multi-Institutional Analysis From the Congenital Heart Surgeons’ Society.” These honored papers were followed by three Richard E. Clark Papers, selected for their research using data from the STS National Database. The presentations were: Adult Cardiac Surgery—“Mortality Is Reduced When Surgical Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation Is Performed Concomitantly With Mitral Operations”; General Thoracic Surgery—“The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Composite Score for Evaluating Program Performance in Esophagectomy for Esophageal Cancer”; and Congenital Heart Surgery—“Early Shunt Failure, Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes: An Analysis of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database.” The session ended with Joseph E. Bavaria’s Presidential Address, “Quality and Innovation in Cardiothoracic Surgery: Colliding Imperatives?” He described the fine line between delivering quality treatment and embracing innovation and urged surgeons to think outside the box so that these two imperatives do not collide. Two keynote lectures were featured on Tuesday: the Thomas B. Ferguson Lecture and the C. Walton Lillehei Lecture. The Ferguson Lecture was given by University of Pennsylvania Health System CEO Ralph W. Muller. Muller discussed how specialists, such as cardiothoracic surgeons, can take a broader role in patient care through service lines and disease team approaches to promote care standardization. The Lillehei Lecture was presented by Samer Nashef, MD, author of The Naked Surgeon. He provided an overview of quality initiatives and their unintended consequences. The Annual Meeting also featured collaborative educational efforts with other professional medical organizations, including the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (STS/AATS Critical Care Symposium: Challenges in the Management of Mechanical Cardiopulmonary Support in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit); the American College of Cardiology (ACC @ STS: Cardiologists and Surgeons Tackling Complex Clinical Scenarios as a Heart Team); the Canadian Association of Thoracic Surgeons and the Canadian Society of Cardiac Surgeons (STS/CATS/CSCS: Quality Improvement in Cardiothoracic Surgery—Real-Life Methods to Improve Surgical Performance Within Yourself, Your Division, and Your Specialty); the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS @ STS: Management of Distal Type B Aortic Dissection); the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS @ STS: Controversial Issues in General Thoracic Surgery–Perspectives From Europe and North America); the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (STS/SCA: Integrating Perioperative Echocardiography Into Cardiac Surgical Clinical Decision Making); and the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS @ STS: Sharing Common Ground for Cardiovascular Problems). STS University wrapped up the 53rd Annual Meeting. Registrants learned the latest cardiothoracic surgery techniques through hands-on procedural education taught by world-renowned instructors. Twenty sessions were held on 10 topics, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement, video-assisted thoracic surgical lobectomy, and mechanical circulatory support. The sessions had more than 600 participants. On the weekend of the Annual Meeting, STS and AATS hosted Tech-Con 2017, which had more than 900 professional registrants and 100 exhibitor personnel. The program focused primarily on new technologies that were not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but could become available for use in the next 1 to 3 years. The adult cardiac sessions covered mitral valve disease, atrial fibrillation management, aortic and endovascular repair, and heart failure, and the general thoracic sessions focused on precision thoracic surgery, advanced surgical techniques, and health care in the 21st century. A Joint Session capped off the event. It was modeled after the television show Shark Tank and allowed inventors the opportunity to pitch their creations to a panel of experts. Continuing Medical Education (CME) was not offered for Tech-Con. Once again, the Society is offering the Annual Meeting Online product so that physicians can experience the dynamic educational offerings and earn CME credit from the comfort of their homes or offices. All meeting registrants receive the product for free, and nonattendees can purchase access. STS 53rd Annual Meeting Online includes most of the sessions from the live conference, including the surgical symposia, general sessions, surgical motion pictures, and Ethics Debate. Up to 104.75 CME credits are available. These activities will be available for CME credit until January 31, 2018. For more information, visit www.sts.org/amonline. The success of the STS 53rd Annual Meeting was due in large part to the exemplary commitment of the Workforce on Annual Meeting under the leadership of Wilson Y. Szeto, MD (Workforce Chair), Thomas K. Varghese, Jr, MD (STS University Task Force Chair), Jonathan M. Chen, MD (Surgical Symposia Task Force Co-Chair), Joseph B. Shrager, MD (Surgical Symposia Task Force Co-Chair), Mark F. Berry, MD (Tech-Con Task Force Co-Chair), and Richard Lee, MD (Tech-Con Task Force Co-Chair). New STS officers and directors were elected during the Annual Membership (Business) Meeting on Monday, January 23. Richard L. Prager, MD, was elected STS President for 2017–2018, Keith S. Naunheim, MD, was elected First Vice President, and Robert S.D. Higgins, MD, MSHA, was elected Second Vice President. Joseph F. Sabik, III, MD, was elected Secretary, and Thomas E. MacGillivray, MD, was elected Treasurer. Edo K. S. Bedzra, MD, MBA, was elected Resident Director, Christopher M. Draft was elected Public Director, and Douglas J. Mathisen, MD, was elected Historian. A full listing of the Society’s governance bodies can be found at www.sts.org/about-sts/governance-and-leadership. At the Board of Directors meeting on Sunday, January 22, 30 new Active Members and 46 new International Members were approved for membership. A list of new members can be viewed at www.sts.org/new-members. Since the 2016 Annual Meeting, 120 Active Members, 88 International Members, 70 Associate Members, 94 Candidate Members, and 96 Pre-Candidate Members joined STS, the latter three categories joined through the organization’s rolling admissions process. The Society now has more than 7,200 members. The Society would like to thank the many member volunteers and their supportive families for their commitment to the specialty, as well as for the hard work and long hours they put in to develop and implement this highly successful meeting. The STS 54th Annual Meeting will be held January 27–31, 2018, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.