On December 19-25, 2022, the 2022 Chengdu Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgery Conference and the Sixth Western Valve Forum, with the Chinese Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery as the academic guiding unit, sponsored by West China Hospital of Sichuan University and Sichuan International Medical Exchange & Promotion Association (SCIMEA), organized by  Cardiovascular Surgery Branch of SCIMEA,  co-organized by Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery was held in a combination of online and offline methods.

The forum is focused on the theme of “technology development and quality control” in the field of minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery, covering the academic and technical frontiers of minimally invasive cardiovascular fields such as minimally invasive valves, minimally invasive large vessels, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, etc., providing various forms of academic exchanges such as keynote lectures, live surgery broadcasts, case sharing, seminars and hands-on training. The conference totally presented 1 hands-on training, 1 technical specification seminar, 3 satellite sessions, 4 pre-conference sessions, 12 thematic forums, 22 live surgery broadcasts, and nearly 150 academic lectures and reports for the participants. Nearly 250 experts were invited to participate in lectures, moderations, discussions and surgical demonstrations, which attracted more than 70,000 online viewers.

The forum opened successfully in the morning of December 24, with the opening ceremony hosted by Prof. An Qi, Director of Department of Cardiac Macrovascular Surgery at West China Hospital of Sichuan University. Prof. Hu Shengshou, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Director of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, President of Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chairman of the 2022 Chengdu Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgery Conference and the 6th Western Valve Forum; Prof. Li Weimin, President of West China School of Medicine/West China Hospital, Sichuan University; and Prof. Guo Yingqiang, Vice President of West China School of Medicine/West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Sichuan University, Deputy Chairman of the 2022 Chengdu Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgery Conference and the 6th Western Valve Forum, delivered the opening speeches.

Prof. An Qi hosts the opening ceremony.

Academician Hu Shengshou delivers a speech.

On behalf of the Organizing Committee of 2022 Chengdu Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Conference and National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases,  Academician Hu Shengshou expressed his warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to all the experts and colleagues present. Prof. Hu mentioned that although China's minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery technology started early, its technological development urgently needs to be improved, which is mainly reflected in the following aspects. Firstly, there is still a big gap between China’s minimally invasive surgery technology and foreign advanced technology in terms of development and innovation, especially China lacks original technology and device development. Secondly, the popularity of some mature minimally invasive surgical techniques is not high, such as small incision technique, thoracoscopic-assisted technique, and robot-assisted surgical technique, which are not well popularized and promoted nationwide. Thirdly, the research work related to minimally invasive surgical techniques is relatively underdeveloped, and there is a lack of evidence-based medical data for the Chinese population. Fourth, the multidisciplinary cooperation in research and development of minimally invasive techniques and related instruments is still insufficient. It is hoped that this conference will provide a platform for national colleagues to learn and exchange ideas on the development and innovation of minimally invasive surgical technology, and to carry out the exchange and cooperation of medical-engineering combination to promote the development of minimally invasive surgical technology to a higher level in China.

Prof. Li Weimin delivers a speech.

On behalf of West China Hospital of Sichuan University, President Li Weimin extended a warm welcome to all experts and colleagues, and expressed his heartfelt thanks to all experts and peers who have long been concerned about and supported the development of West China Hospital and the Department of Cardiac Macrovascular Surgery of the hospital. He mentioned that this conference is closely integrated with the frontier of today's medicine, and the direction of minimally invasive and interventional medical development is the direction of development that maximizes the benefits of patients. This conference brings together cardiac surgery, cardiology, ultrasound, anesthesia and other disciplines, and through live surgery broadcasts, special reports, seminars and other means, it will certainly present a high-level, wide-range, in-depth academic feast, and will further promote the overall improvement of China's cardiac macrovascular surgery treatment.

Prof. Guo Yingqiang delivers a speech.

In his speech, Prof. Guo Yingqiang mentioned that with the help and guidance of the experts, the Western Valve Forum has been upgraded from a special conference on interventional valves to Chengdu Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgery Conference, and both the connotation and denotation of the conference have been comprehensively enhanced. This year, the organization of the conference has also been upgraded. For the first time, the conference has introduced online surgery broadcast, and many new techniques and methods will be demonstrated through 4 days of exciting practical demonstrations, which will make the conference a comprehensive conference combining theory and practice from a simple academic exchange. The conference set up 12 theme forums, covering all subspecialties of cardiac surgery, including perioperative period, anesthesia, ultrasound and other interdisciplinary content. Besides, an academician forum was held specially, and it was an honor to have invited Academician Hu Shengshou and Academician Ge Junbo to deliver important speeches. At the same time, it also set up the Discipline Development Forum, and it was a great honor to have invited experts and scholars from hospitals and departments to give their opinions and explore important topics of discipline development together. It is hoped through this conference, we can exchange experience and technology with peers from all over the country and the world, explore the direction of the discipline, and talk about the development of the discipline.

The opening ceremony was also attended by Prof. Ge Junbo of Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. Liu Zhongmin of Shanghai East Hospital, Prof. Wu Zhong and Prof. Hu Jia of West China Hospital of Sichuan University, and other experts and scholars. The conference invited top experts from major centers at home and abroad to make invited presentations and special exchanges, and to discuss and exchange in detail on hot topics, difficulties and focal points in the fields of minimally invasive valves, minimally invasive large vessels and coronary artery disease.

Academician Forum 

Academician Hu Shengshou gave a keynote presentation on “The Development of Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgery in China from the Coming Age of Aging”. Academician Hu pointed out that the incidence of valve disease, coronary heart disease and chronic heart failure in China's aging population has increased significantly. In response to aging, China's cardiovascular treatment technology is evolving towards minimally invasive technique, PCI intervention has become mainstream, transcatheter valve intervention (TAVR) is rapidly developing, and new technologies for atrial fibrillation treatment are emerging. However, the development of minimally invasive cardiac surgery in China is still facing problems such as low application rate, unclear advantageous indications of minimally invasive surgery, and decreasing young doctors. Facing these problems and challenges, Academician Hu emphasized the need to actively develop Hybrid composite technology and establish multidisciplinary physician teams; reduce surgical trauma and continuously improve minimally invasive techniques. He concluded that in response to the aging population, disciplinary integration and minimally invasive development are imperative, and innovative surgical technology development and training of highly qualified cardiovascular surgeons are the basis for the long-term development of cardiovascular surgery in China.

The Development of Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgery in China from the Coming Age of Aging

By Academician Hu Shengshou, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

Academician Ge Junbo gave a keynote speech on “Development and Prospect of TAVR”. Academician Ge introduced in detail the research history of TAVR technology and the first TAVR surgery and the first TAVR valve-in-valve implantation case in China, and systematically reviewed the development of TAVR technology in the past 20 years. He pointed out that according to epidemiological survey statistics, the incidence of heart valve disease in China is 2.5%~3.2 %, which, based on the total population, means there are more than 4 million patients with heart valve disease. As China enters the stage of aging population TAVR technology will be more and more accepted in the future, and the number of TAVR procedures in China will grow rapidly. It is hoped that along with the innovation of technology and improvement of valve materials, TAVR technology will benefit more patients with heart diseases.

Development and Prospect of TAVR

By Academician Ge Junbo, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University

Keynote Speeches

In the keynote forum, renowned experts and scholars from Canada, the United States and other countries and China gave keynote speeches on topics such as treatment options for young patients, minimally invasive technology innovation, technical points, research progress in elderly valve diseases, and future development prospects of cardiac surgery. The experts actively shared their knowledge and expertise, and provided the participants with a variety of academic contents.

Choice of SAVR vs TAVR in Young Patients

By Prof. Ye Jian, St. Paul's Hospital, Canada

The Direction of Surgeons in the TAVR Era

By Prof. Wei Zheng, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taibei City

Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery: Only Do What Is Right, and Always Do It Right

By Prof. Wan Song, Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Indications and Technical Points for Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Edge-to-Edge Repair

By Prof. Wang Jian’an, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine

Future Development of Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgery in China from CMC Data

By Prof. Wang Chunsheng, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University

Surgery Clinics and Innovation for Valvular Heart Disease

By Prof. Dong Nianguo, Union Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Research Advances in Aortic Valve Disease in the Elderly in 2022

By Prof. Wu Yongjian, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

Rationale, Definitions, Techniques and Outcomes of Commissural Alignment in TAVR

By Prof. Gilbert HL Tang, Mount Sinai Health System

Discipline Development Forum

In the discipline development forum, many clinical experts, hospital and department managers such as Prof. Zhang Hongjia, Prof. Gong Ming, Prof. Zhuang Jian, Prof. Zheng Zhe, Prof. Liu Zhongmin, Prof. Xiao Yingbin, Prof. Chen Liangwan, Prof. Guo Yingqiang, Prof. Zhang Hao, Prof. Shen Zhenya, Prof. Wu Zhongkai, Prof. Cheng Zhaoyun, Prof. Song Jiangping and Prof. Ye Xiaofeng gave speeches on the self-positioning, current situation, problems and solutions of the discipline, specific measures to strengthen the discipline construction and short, medium and long term planning for the discipline construction of the department, which triggered continuous thinking about the development of cardiovascular surgery in the new era. 

Swipe left or right to view more speeches.

Interventional Valve Forum

The interventional valve forum comprehensively demonstrated the technical progress of valvular heart disease and mitral and tricuspid valve interventional treatment in terms of treatment technology, device innovation and patient management, which enabled the participants to have a deeper knowledge and understanding of the standardized treatment of these diseases. It is expected that the innovative devices designed domestically will be used in clinical practice as soon as possible in the future to write a colorful chapter of China's original devices, further improve the mitral and tricuspid valve treatment and device development in China, and vigorously promote the leapfrog development in the field of structural heart disease in China.

Minimally Invasive Valve Forum

The minimally invasive valve forum presented a splendid academic feast on a series of hot topics in the field of minimally invasive valves, including cutting-edge topics, evidence-based guidelines, and clinical practice.

Minimally Invasive Atrial Fibrillation Forum

The minimally invasive atrial fibrillation forum focused on the hot issues of atrial fibrillation, covering topics such as combined medical-surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation, Cox-Maze IV surgery, and the current status and outlook of atrial fibrillation surgical treatment, in an attempt to present the most cutting-edge, in-depth and practical academic information in the field of minimally invasive atrial fibrillation for all peers.

Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Disease Forum

The minimally invasive coronary artery disease forum covered the exchange and discussion on the current situation, learning curve experience summary, prospect and development of minimally invasive coronary surgery, etc. The carefully planned and perfected topic content have promoted the sharing and exchange of doctors from different regions, and at the same time, enhanced the treatment concept and comprehensive technical ability of the technical workers.

Minimally Invasive Large Vessel Forum

In the minimally invasive large vessel forum, experts actively shared their clinical technical experience and presented new technologies, concepts and products in this field, while also focusing on the problems that still exist in the field, attracting participants to conduct more in-depth discussions and research.

Minimally Invasive Congenital Heart Disease Forum

In recent years, minimally invasive surgery for congenital heart disease has been growing, from being rarely performed to gradually becoming popular. In this forum, experts in related fields reviewed and discussed hot topics in the development of this field.

Multidisciplinary—Ultrasound, Perioperative Period and Anesthesia Forum

The development of cardiac surgery technology has changed the ecology of disease diagnosis and treatment, breaking the barriers between internal medicine and surgery departments, while incorporating talents from interdisciplinary areas of expertise such as ultrasound, imaging, and anesthesia to form multidisciplinary treatment teams to maximize patient benefit. It is also a microcosm of medical innovation, which has in turn propelled the development of the entire medical device innovation industry. The multidisciplinary forum set up at the conference provided a platform for the participants to communicate and trigger new sparks of ideas.

Perioperative Period Forum

Anesthesia Forum

Ultrasound Forum

The conference combined the current cutting-edge progress in the field of minimally invasive cardiac surgery in China and provided a rich academic curriculum for clinicians. The conference invited famous experts and scholars from the United States, Germany, Canada and other countries and from both sides of the Taiwan Straits to participate, and the participants were from more than 20 major provinces and regions in China, including Sichuan, Chongqing, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong.

The conference follows the philosophy of drawing upon the strengths of others to learn genuine knowledge and forging ahead with heart and soul.

The successful convening of the conference has built a professional academic exchange platform for cardiovascular surgeons and made more exploration for further promoting the overall development of minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery. In the future, the road to innovation in cardiovascular surgery is still long and full of challenges. Look forward to meeting with all peers in the coming year in Chengdu to learn together and make progress together to promote the high quality development of cardiovascular surgery in China. 

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