CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 25, No 3, May/June 2014
144
AFRICA
Cardio News
Bridging the divide at the 2014 annual SA Heart Congress
The 15th annual SA Heart Congress will
focus on bridging the divide between
best practice and the challenges faced
in implementing these ideals. To be held
at the International Convention Centre
in Durban, from 16–19 October 2014,
the congress will be hosting leading
international faculty as well as local
experts, and for the first time a dedicated
team from the European Society of
Cardiology (ESC). The ESC faculty will
share some of the key clinical issues (hot
topics) and late-breaking clinical trials
from their recent 2014 congress.
Although cardiovascular disease
(CVD) has always been at the forefront
of research and development, course
director, Dr Sajidah Khan comments that
innovation in the pharmacology domain
has plateaued over the past decade. The
opening plenary session will focus on
novel approaches in CVD research,
linking molecular science to clinical
cardiology.
Not forgetting the basics, Dr Khan
says ‘Confusion has arisen in the ranks
regarding basic entities, such as what
constitutes high blood pressure and what
the therapeutic targets should be for
treating high lipid levels’. The differing
viewpoints will be discussed during one
of the plenary sessions.
In addition, she points out ‘Although
cardiology is now very high tech on one
hand, on the other hand there is also a
divergence of opinion with regard to
fundamentals, such as what constitutes
optimal nutrition for good cardiovascular
health’ – another congress topic. She
hopes to generate healthy debate on the
issue. The topical subject of nutriceuticals,
and whether they have a role to play
in cardiac health, is also earmarked for
discussion.
To get delegates up to speed with
current technology, the international
faculty will present on the latest
innovations in bio-absorbable scaffolding
and renal denervation, as well as aspects
of pacing and electrophysiology. The
current
status quo
with regard to heart
transplantation in South Africa, in both
the public and private health sectors,
should also generate much discussion.
In addition to the mainstream
programme, pre-congress workshops on
Thursday 16 October have been devoted
to updates for non-cardiologists, particu-
larly catering to the needs of general
practitioners, as well as a comprehen-
sive echocardiography workshop by a
prominent faculty from the Mayo Clinic.
Parallel sessions will also be run for the
individual cardiac societies, focusing on
their areas of specific interest, which
will include paediatric cardiology, cardiac
arrhythmia, heart failure, cardiac imag-
ing, cardiovascular research, cardiothor-
acic surgery, and the allied professionals
associated with our discipline.
The 2014 SA Heart Congress hopes to
address a larger audience this year, with
cardiac anaesthetists participating in a
novel session titled ‘Let the team meet’.
‘Medical professionals with a special
interest in cardiovascular disease cannot
afford to miss this congress’, Dr Khan
concludes. ‘The faculty line-up is
outstanding and they have condensed the
most up-to-date information into just 3.5
days. An added bonus is that Durban is
one of the few cities in the world where
you get a major urban metropolis located
within a sub-tropical resort!’
For more information on the 2014 SA Heart
Congress, visit
or contact Europa Organisation Africa on (011)
325-0020, or email:
.
