Great Venue, Great Sessions, but Disappointments Too: Blogging from ACC.13

March 10th, 2013

Great Venue, Great Sessions, but Disappointments Too: Blogging from ACC.13

Tariq Ahmad, MD, MPH

Several Cardiology Fellows who are attending ACC.13 in San Francisco this week are blogging for CardioExchange. The Fellows include Tariq Ahmad, Megan Coylewright, Jeremiah Depta, Kumar Dharmarajan, Payal Kohli, and Sandeep Mangalmurti. View the previous post here and view the next one here.

I started going to the big cardiology meetings, ACC and AHA, as a second year medicine resident. Previous venues have included Chicago, Orlando, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. Thus far, San Francisco has been my favorite. The Moscone center an easy walk from most hotels. The weather this weekend is quite pleasant and its great to spend non-conference time in such a fun city.

This mornings events have not been without some unexpected drama. The results of the PREVAIL study were to be presented as a late breaker this morning by Dr. David Holmes. My friends are I were waiting for the presentation only to be told that the ACC was canceling the presentation due to an embargo break by Boston Scientific. This led to some interesting discussions about the pros and cons of having embargos at these meetings with convincing arguments for either viewpoint. I am sure we will be hearing more about this in the next few days.

I had been looking forward to some great sessions on heart failure this afternoon. Unfortunately, the rooms were completely filled by the time I got there (2 minutes past the hour!) and the doors had been locked. There was a large crowd standing outside to watch the talks on the TV screen. It appears that the organizers might have underestimated the interest in these sessions. Unfortunately, watching the talks on a monitor doesnt feel as authentic; its somewhat like being at the stadium but unable to watch the game.

Next is a FIT mix and mingle session. I’m looking forward to meeting some great mentors and meeting old friends and colleagues.

For more of our ACC.13 coverage of late-breaking clinical trials, interviews with the authors of the most important research, and blogs from our fellows on the most interesting presentations at the meeting, check out our Coverage Headquarters.

CardioExchange Archive

CardioExchange, an NEJM practice community for medical professionals dedicated to improving cardiac patient care, was active from 2009 to 2015. CardioExchange fostered discussion between clinicians from across the globe.

March 10th, 2013