Dear Colleagues and Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is our great honour and particular pleasure to invite you to the jubilee 20th Alpe-Adria Annual Cardiology meeting which will be held in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, on June 7th – June 9th, 2012. The meeting is jointly organized by the Slovak Society of Cardiology and the Slovak Heart Rhythm Association.
The twenty-year-old tradition of these meetings confirms the viability of the Alpe-Adria Association of Cardiology idea within the reunited Europe and confirms the necessity of closer co-operation, and building of personal and scientific relationships between cardiac societies in the Alpe-Adria region. The commitment to facilitate and support the participation in the AAAC meeting and active presentations of young colleagues, clinicians and scientists is highly appreciated. We are happy to inform you that all active participants (speakers, poster presenters and session chairpersons) will have their registration fees disclaimed (i.e. free access to the scientific sessions). Furthermore, as it is our great wish to attract younger participants and physicians/cardiologists in training we offer an accredited half-day case-based teaching course “ECG based decision making in complex cardiac patients”.
This year´s meeting subtitled “Leading Syndromes in Cardiology – Controversies and Interdisciplinary Aspects” is focused on the atrial fibrillation and heart failure. These two syndromes are generally regarded as epidemics since their prevalence and incidence is increasing and as such they are among leading causes of mortality and morbidity of cardiovascular patients. This year’s meeting seeks to create an accomplished scientific programme, concede a comprehensive presentation and facilitate in-depth discussions of various aspects of these syndromes.
The meeting will be held directly in Bratislava’s historic city centre. At the beginning of the summer the pedestrian zone, with its variety of cafés, restaurants, and bars, has a very lively atmosphere, which often lasts until early morning hours. We are proud to say that the liveliness of the city centre is not solely the creation of the many tourists, but first and foremost of the inspiring community of 40-thousand young students from the several major universities. The social highlight of the AAAC meeting – the gala dinner – will be organized in the fully reconstructed premises of the historic Bratislava Castle, where the participants may enjoy 1300 years of history alongside a beautiful scenery of Danube River and Austrian Alps ( however, not even under best weather conditions will you be able to see the Adria…). The gala dinner will feature excellent Slovak as well as regional border-crossing gastronomy, wines, music and culture.
On behalf of the organizing committee we are pleased to cordially invite you to join the 20th Meeting of the Alpe-Adria Association of Cardiology in Bratislava. We are convinced that together it is possible to create a valuable, attractive and highly interactive scientific programme in a friendly and fruitful atmosphere facilitating the exchange of scientific knowledge and clinical experience. We are looking forward to welcoming you in Bratislava!
Eva Goncalvesová, MD, PhD,
FESC Robert Hatala, MD, PhD, FESC, FACC
