11th International Congress of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia

11th International Congress of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia

Dear colleagues,

I am delighted to invite you to the 11th International Congress of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia (ICCVA) of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists.

The ICCVA 2008 will take place at the Charité Medical Center in Berlin from the 14th to 18th of September 2008. This international congress will be organized by the three participating societies SCA (Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists), EACTA (European Association of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologists), and the DGAI (German Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine).

Historically, the ICCVA takes place every two years in collaboration with the host country's society of anesthesiologists. Previous congresses took place in Tel Aviv 2002, Tokyo 2004, and in Prague 2006.

As chair of the congress in 2008 it will give me great pleasure to welcome you to Berlin.

The 11th International Congress of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia (ICCVA) 2008, is of special significance as it coincides with the German Society's 10th Anesthesiology and Critical Care Capital City Conference (the HAI meeting 2008 – Hauptstadt Kongress für Anästhesiologie und Intensivtherapie).

In recognition of this special anniversary the ICCVA 2008 will begin three days before the annual HAI meeting and will end with a closing ceremony at the HAI meeting's congress venue in the Berlin Congress Center close to the Alexanderplatz.

We are delighted with this collaboration and believe that integrating the two events will lead to a successful and outstanding scientific event with record attendance.

The Congress will be hosted right in the heart of the Charité Medial Center's university campus. The congress venue itself is a first class, state of the art congress center purpose built for hosting medical events.

Berlin is Germany's largest city and it`s accessibility and culture makes it one of the continent's most visited destinations. It is an important bridge between Eastern and Western Europe. It offers all of the political, cultural and historic experiences that one could wish for at a scientific congress in a prime location.

Berlin is an important economic centre and its universities, research institutions, theaters, museums, concert halls, and architecture enjoy a first class international reputation.

As usual, at the ICCVA 2008 there will be a number of lectures, round table discussions, pro-con debates, clinical presentations and workshops. These will cover a broad range of topics including cardiac anesthesia, fundamentals of critical care medicine, echocardiography, hemodynamics and stress metabolism.

To mark the occasion of both the ICCVA 2008 and the 10th Anniversary of the HAI Meeting a memorial lecture will be given in honor of Jean Emily Henley, who forged ties between the United States and Germany.

I hope that these two conferences will provide us opportunities to learn from each other, to expand cooperation and to strengthen existing ties.

Yours sincerely

Claudia D. Spies, MD
President

September 14th - 18th, 2008, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany