Adult Congenital Heart Disease Academy 2021 live meeting-first international in-person cardiology meeting since COVID-19 outbreak.

In a sunny, warm morning of late September, in the beautiful Mediterranean city of Split, it felt almost surreal that after the protracted and challenging period of fight against the global pandemic, a cardiology meeting was about to commence, a live in-person meeting (https://achdacademy.com). Attendees from different countries started arriving at the venue; it was a true pleasure to see a full house again with old friends and colleagues, but also many young, aspiring trainees (). In compliance with all epidemiological measures, special recommendations and instructions of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, we were more than ready and willing to engage in this, what nowadays seems, a true endeavour. The idea for the Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) Academy Update Meeting was born recently, of the ACHD Echo Academy, an International Course in Echocardiography held in Zagreb in early 2020 (https://achdecho.com), just before the COVID-19 pandemic started.

Adult Congenital Heart Disease Academy Update meeting Split 2021. (A) Photo of some of the meeting faculty/participants; (B) opening ceremony; (C) Keynote Speaker Ms. Karla Vollm (right) with the local conference organizer Prof. Margarita Brida (left); and (D) award ceremony, five best abstracts presenters.

It was a daring decision, but the timing could not have been better. The last face-to-face ACHD meeting, since the COVID-19 pandemic, was the 10th Jubilee Euro-GUCH/ACHD Meeting, held also in Croatia (Zagreb) in April 2019. Our ACHD academic interactions have since been largely confined to digital means. There has, in the meantime, been substantial progress in the cardiology field of ACHD. New European Society of Cardiology (ESC) ACHD 2020 Guidelines have been published as new evidence has accumulated for this patient group, particularly on percutaneous interventional techniques and risk stratification with regard to timing of surgical and catheter interventions, and medical treatment with increasing level of evidence in support. The greatest incentive for the Split physical Meeting, however, was an opportunity for all of us to meet in person again, to start thinking and to start planning beyond the COVID-19 era, and to have a great reunion between our fellow colleagues and friends. With these thoughts in mind, we organized two full days of scientific exchange, with international experts and participants from Europe and beyond. We felt wind at our backs, when literally all faculty members invited responded promptly and enthusiastically, confirming their arrival, despite unease of international travel and associated uncertainty (). Our meeting was held as hybrid, to give the opportunity to more colleagues to attend, that could not be physically present. We submit that this model of hybrid meetings is here to stay.

Adult Congenital Heart Disease Academy Update meeting Split 2021. (A) Faculty members. From left to right, Giancarlo Scognamiglio, Italy; Magalie Ladouceur, France; Helmut Baumgartner, Germany; Gerhard Diller, Germany; Michael Gatzoulis, UK/Greece; Karla Vollm, Germany; Filippo Crea, Italy; Margarita Brida, Croatia; Katja Prokselj, Slovenia; Massimo Chessa, Italy; Jolien Roos-Hesselink, the Netherlands; Laura Dos Subira, Spain; Željko Đurić, Croatia. (B) Scientific directors. From left to right, Gerhard Diller, Germany; Jolien Roos-Hesselink, the Netherlands; Margarita Brida, Croatia; Michael A. Gatzoulis, UK/Greece.

Prof. Margarita Brida, the local meeting organizer, and Prof. Gerhard Diller, current chair of the ESC Working group of ACHD opened the meeting and spoke of challenges, but also opportunities of the current era in our ever-growing ACHD cardiovascular field, and of the life-long tertiary care need for the patients ()., Prof. Brida also highlighted her more personal drive for organizing a second meeting in the space of 2 years that is the opportunity to further increase the visibility of Central and Southeastern European region on the global map in the ACHD field. The first session included challenging topics such as optimal timing of pulmonary valve replacement for asymptomatic patients with Tetralogy of Fallot and significant pulmonary regurgitation and for tricuspid valve replacement in patients with systemic right ventricle and significant tricuspid regurgitation, presented by Drs Giancarlo Scognamiglio and Magalie Ladouceur, respectively. There was an intriguing and heavily subscribed round table session on ‘Ask the Editors’ on how to improve clinical research and publishing in ACHD; the need for collaborative work was emphasized, given the ACHD heterogeneity, but also of the opportunity of registries and of bold questions being tested for the whole population in a less granular form. This presentation was eloquently delivered by the Editor in Chief of the European Heart Journal, Prof. Filippo Crea. Other sessions included therapies in ACHD, drugs such as sacubitril/valsartan, Sodium-Glucose Transport Protein 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), and Non-vitamin K Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs), novel/innovative techniques such as sinus venosus atrial septal defect percutaneous closure presented by Prof. Massimo Chessa, and ‘What to do’ and ‘What not to do’ wisdom from the 2020 ESC ACHD Guidelines presented by their Chairperson, Prof. Helmut Baumgartner. The Keynote Honorary Lecture entitled ‘Different perspective and a life-long journey with CHD’ was given by the Grand Lady Ms. Karla Vollm, a mother of a child born with congenital heart disease, who devoted her life and work to fundraising for and raising awareness of congenital heart disease and its needs (). Her inspiring and emotional talk led to a long, standing ovation. The meeting was adjourned with top five abstract presentations and related awards for the young investigators (); their work will be published in the International Journal of Cardiology Congenital Heart Disease, official Journal of the International Society for Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ISACHD) and the Japanese Society of Adult Congenital Heart Disease. Beside the scientific programme, there was a great social schedule and networking opportunity during the faculty dinner and joined get-together dinner and dance on the beautiful surroundings of Split, happy, and joyous memories for many of us.

In these uncertain times, our relatively small, but courageous ACHD community opens the door to the new chapter of hybrid events. Physical meetings are at the heart of education, new ideas coming together, networking opportunities, but also downtime to relax and enjoy. In-person meetings matched with digital transmission, reaching out to more people, are new aspects to adopt and cherish. These are still very difficult and challenging times we are living in. But this is also our time, to live our lives to the fullest, both professionally and personally. As it was said many times in the course of history, there will probably never be better time than the present.

ACHD Echo Academy, Echocardiography course in ACHD, 4–5 February 2022, Zagreb, Croatia.

EuroACHD Meeting, 12–13 April 2022, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Advanced Symposium in ACHD, 29–30 September 2022, London, UK.

Dates for your 2022 calendar

Conflict of interest: none declared.

Data availability

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