The world’s largest conference in cardiovascular medicine took place late August in Munich, Germany. The annual Congress hosted by the European Society of Cardiology has earned a strong global reputation as a provider of the latest science in the field. New guidelines and their implementation are discussed. Clinically relevant information and advice is presented in numerous sessions, including over 4 500 abstract presentations. This year the spotlight was on “Valvular Heart Disease” focusing on innovative treatments and techniques.

Atrial switch operation in patients with transposition of the great arteries (TGA), leads to leftward shift and changes the geometry of the interventricular septum. This mechanistic study demonstrates that septal dysfunction contributes to failure of the systemic RV after atrial switch in TGA patients. Medical therapy that counteracts septal flattening may improve function of the systemic RV. First author of the study is PhD fellow Petter Storsten.

The Annual CHFR Symposium on Heart Failure has now been arranged for the 16th time.

Among the invited speakers at the CHFR Symposium this year was the President of the Japanese Society of Echocardiography, Satoshi Nakatani from Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine. He held a very interesting talk on novel methods for quantification of left ventricular function.

CHFR Workshop on Dyssynchrony in Heart Failure took place at Rikshospitalet on Thursday October 11th. The workshop had focus on dyssynchrony and consequences for the failing heart, including the effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy. Methods to identify and quantify dyssynchrony by cardiac imaging were the main topic.

Opening the meeting was invited speaker Professor Theodore P. Abraham, MD, PhD from University of California, San Francisco with an excellent talk on the role of imaging in patients with left ventricular dyssynchrony. Professor Abraham directs the UCSF Echocardiography laboratory and is also a co-director of the UCSF HCM Center of Excellence. He is a well renowned expert in transthoracic, stress and transesophageal echocardiography.

Center for Heart Failure Research (CHFR) invites to a workshop on Diastolic Function in Heart Failure on Wednesday 7th of November at Ullevål Hospital, starting at 12'00 o'clock.
Holding the key note lecture will be Professor Frank A. Flachskampf, MD, PhD from University of Uppsala, Sweden.
Professor Flachskampf is part of a world-renowned clinical research team in ischaemic heart disease and his talk will address how imaging reflects pathophysiology in diastolic function assessment.
The final talk of the day will be by Associate professor Stig Urheim, MD, PhD from Haukeland University Hospital. His talk is titled "Exercise intolerance in heart failure patients with preserved EF (HFpEF) - not only diastolic impairment".

Sign up for the workshop     

Read the program

During the ACC 19th Scientific Sessions Meeting in New Orleans in March, our visiting researcher Associate Professor Katsuji Inoue from Japan, presented two abstracts titled “Left Atrial Strain as a Surrogate Marker of Atrial Chamber Stiffness” and “Reduced Left Atrial Reservoir Strain at Rest Predicts Elevated Left Ventricular Filling Pressure During Exercise”, where the latter was selected as a moderated poster under the non-invasive imaging session in addition to being introduced in the Echocardiography Highlights Session at the ACC 2019. 

Several researchers presented their latest studies at the annual Congress of European Society for Cardiology, the largest get-together of its kind. Elevating the Congress further this year was its conjunction with the World Congress of Cardiology, putting the spotlight on global cardiovascular health, highlighting differences in prevalence, clinical manifestations, prevention strategies, diagnostic modalities and management of cardiovascular diseases around the world, as stated on the ESC webpage.

The Center for Heart Failure Research (CHFR) was established in 2002 and has since then promoted the integration of high quality research from bench to bedside. Center members have a broad range of expertise, covering state-of-the-art gene technology, protein function, integrative physiology in pathophysiological models and clinical studies. This collective knowledge and active research collaboration has resulted in more than 200 scientific publications each year.

Podcasts with members of the Integrated Cardiovascular Function from the ESC Cardio Talk - The ESC Podcast (escardio.org) 

• Published on 2 May 2022, with Otto Smiseth and Espen Boe:
  Left atrial strain imaging: ready for clinical implementation in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
• Published on 31 July 2023, with Otto Smiseth and Lars-Egil Hammersboen:
  Trouble with estimating filling pressure in acute heart failure: lessons from Takotsubo syndrome 
• Published on 3 January 2022, with Ole Jakob Sletten and Otto Smiseth
  Left ventricular performance by work and wasted energy: is strain not sufficient?
• Published on 15 March 2021, with Otto Smiseth and John Aalen
  Heart failure and systolic function: time to leave diagnostics based on ejection fraction?

For the past two decades, NORHEART has been organizing an Annual Symposium covering the latest in cardiac research, with the aim of promoting international quality and to improve career opportunities for PhD students. In recent years Department of Cardiology at Oslo University Hospital and ProCardio Center for Research-based Innovation has engaged in preparations of the meeting. 

The symposium is an arena for young researchers to present the studies they are engaged in and a valuable ground for feedback, collaboration and networking. Each year the best abstracts are awarded with prizes to highlight the resent advancements and new knowledge brought about in the field.