Evolution in cardiovascular care: highlights and observations from the ESC Congress 2008

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in Munich represents the second of the three major annual international cardiovascular meetings. The East European involvement in this meeting (in terms of numbers of delegates, if not presentations) continues to emerge, while the representation from North America, Australasia and the Far East represents an increasing proportion. Of note, the cardiovascular nursing representation is much greater than that of 10 years ago, while the basic science presentations may be less noticeable. The format of the meeting has shifted significantly towards plenary clinical commentaries with limited discussion rather than presentations by individuals or groups. In my opinion, the quality of some debate is marginal. Occasionally, a small number of internationally known speakers appear to move effortlessly between multiple presentations in plenary sessions to industry stands all in 1 day!