Newsletter - February, 2007

Letter from the President, Richard Berrisford

Dear Colleagues,

I am very honoured to be your President this year.

We are a strong Society with a clear vision of our goals. The Council and many members of ESTS are working hard to consolidate the progress we have made in recent years. We will share these with you in the newsletter. I wanted to write specifically to address the current status of ESTS.

Many of you who were in Stockholm at the last joint meeting of ESTS and EACTS are aware that the two Societies are no longer partners after 5 years of collaboration. There are positive and negative consequences to this change, as well as exciting new challenges for us.

Why did ESTS collaborate with EACTS?

ESTS council, from 2000, shared a vision with you, our members, of a Partnership with EACTS. We understood that both Societies would pool their strengths and build a single (joint) voice and a single (joint) platform for thoracic surgeons in Europe. This vision was shared with you, the members of ESTS, throughout our negotiations in the following years. The goal was a Partnership of the two Societies, independent, but working together. We committed ourselves to a single joint annual meeting with abstracts and a separate spring meeting where general thoracic surgeons could continue to meet outside the cardiothoracic forum and have a different kind of interactive meeting without abstracts. Most ESTS members saw this arrangement as a good thing. During these 5 years, the membership of ESTS grew fourfold to over 700.

So why has collaboration with EACTS ended?

ESTS Council, in 2006, negotiated to continue the Partnership with EACTS. We were very pleased with the joint meetings, the single platform, our special spring meetings and the benefits of working together. ESTS Council unanimously supported a draft contract made with EACTS officers for a continued Partnership. This was heavily defeated by EACTS Council.

From EACTS perspective, a continuing collaboration could only be agreed if ESTS became part of EACTS and lost its independence. Our members had completed an online survey in 2005 about our position; the overwhelming majority of ESTS members were not prepared to merge into one Cardiothoracic Society. Your council acted on that mandate.

Can ESTS survive alone?

ESTS is now the largest Society representing General Thoracic Surgery in the World. We have nearly 800 members, and each year our membership grows. We are collaborating closely with the European Respiratory Society (ERS), the American General Thoracic Surgery Club (GTSC), and continue to collaborate with STS, AATS, the Asian Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery and EACTS. In the last three years we have transformed our relationship with Industry, in terms of sponsorship and collaboration in training. YES – ESTS is not only surviving, it is secure. ESTS Council is currently negotiating with professional conference management organisers to continue professional, well organised meetings.

What is happening to the Spring Meeting?

For the moment, we have returned to a single Annual meeting taking place in June. In Leuven we will hold our 15th Annual Meeting. We have tried to incorporate many of the features of the spring meeting with invited speakers and interactive content, but are also encouraging abstracts for presentations. We have had a record response to our call for abstracts this year (n=317). In Leuven we will have a half day Technomeeting as part of the meeting as well as our usual postgraduate course.

Where should I send my abstracts and publish my papers?

The European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery continues to be the Official Journal of ESTS. Abstracts submitted to the ESTS Annual meeting will all be published in a Supplement of Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. Abstracts accepted for presentation in our Annual meeting will be fast tracked to manuscript publication in EJCTS. We encourage members to publish their work outside the meeting in EJCTS. We also encourage ESTS members to submit their best work to the Society’s Annual Meeting in June. We appreciate that there will be competition between the ESTS and the EACTS meetings. It is up to each individual member to decide where to submit their work.

What can ESTS offer me now?

Membership of ESTS continues to offer on-line and paper copies of the European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. Members can register early for the Annual meeting, including the Technomeeting, for a small administrative fee. Trainee members will be offered places at the ESTS School which opens this year. We have reduced our membership fees according to the World Bank average income of membership countries. Members also have the use of the Exchange Program and the new online Database.

Many members of ESTS will not have been at the Gala Dinner in Stockholm, during our last Joint meeting with EACTS. I hope I was able to convey our feelings about the future on your behalf:

“It is my privilege to say a few words as the incoming President of ESTS to welcome all of you to this wonderful Joint Dinner in such unforgettable surroundings.

Many of us in this room will look back over the last 7 years of collaboration between our 2 Societies with much satisfaction and rightful pride in what we have achieved - not least in our joint meetings. In ESTS we really believed there was a win-win solution and a future in Partnership. The Council of ESTS unanimously backed this solution and we are saddened that this has not become a reality.

The word “divorce” has been on many people's lips - but, the truth is, we were never married. Neither partner could sacrifice their own vision for the good of the marriage. Although it is painful, it is much better to recognise that before the wedding and I want to thank our colleagues in EACTS Council for their honesty in communicating that to us.

So, we part as friends, with great respect for each other. Inevitably we will be following competitive paths. ESTS really hopes that this does not damage the wonderful milieu of International Collaboration in Cardiothoracic Surgery not only in Europe - but also worldwide. We are very aware that the course of our relationship has been keenly followed by our American colleagues and we thank you for your understanding and your concern.

ESTS and EACTS still have much to learn from each other as friends if not partners and I would like to propose a toast to a Future in Friendship.”

There is much work to do. ESTS needs the commitment and engagement of each member of ESTS to achieve its aims for Thoracic Surgeons and for our patients.

You have a strong Council and a Society which has come of age.

I hope that we will meet in person in Leuven in June.

Sincerely,

Richard Berrisford
President

New Membership Fee Structure

In 2007, ESTS membership fee will be related to the average per capita income of the country in which they practice. These are defined each year by the World Bank and are used to create three categories: low income countries, middle income countries and high income countries. Membership fee can be paid online from the website.

New Officers - Councillors

• Change in officers

After the General Assembly held in Stockholm, Sweden, Richard Berrisford (Exeter, U.K.) replaced Semih Halezeroglu (Istanbul, Turkey) as President and Michael Mueller (Vienna, Austria) replaced Gaetano Rocco as Treasurer now being President-elect. Finally, after many years of hard work for the Society, Tomasz Grodzki (Szczecin, Poland) has left council as Past past President.

• New councillor

Mariano Garcia Yuste (Valladolid, Spain) has become the new Councillor since September 2006.

Call for Nominations

According to our Constitution (Chapter Q5), the Nomination Committee is asking for nominations for the position of President-elect and 3 Councillors.

Please mail your nominations directly to Prof Pierre Fuentes, Chairman of the Committee at pfuentes@ap-hm.fr . Only full members from Europe who are in active practice are eligible for election. The closing date for nominations will be the end of February 2007. Members will be informed on the nominees to be elected at least 21 days before the General Assembly that will take place in Leuven, Belgium on 5 June 2007 at 17.30 hours on the occasion of the 15th European Conference on General Thoracic Surgery.

Honorary Members

At the last joint meeting in Stockholm in September 2006, Peter Pairolero (Rochester, Minnesota) was elected as new honorary member of the Society. Peter Goldstraw (London, U.K.) is nominated as this year’s honorary member to be elected at the occasion of the next Annual Meeting in Leuven in June 2007.

Ad Hoc Committees

In an effort to modernize its structure, the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons has created an advisory body by forming" Ad Hoc Committees" dealing with a variety of issues regarding the thoracic surgical community in Europe. Although without direct executive power, these Committees will support the Council in guiding strategic decisions. The eight " Ad Hoc Committees" should be formed each by three individuals who should in turn elect a spokeperson to report on the progress of the committees annually during the proceedings of the General Assembly at the Annual Meeting. They will hold office for 2 years, renewable for additional 2 as per Council decision. The committees should not benefit from any direct ESTS funding. The members of the "Ad Hoc Committees" serve ESTS without compensation but they are entitled to a reimbursment for travel expenses should they be called to present the progress of their activities before the Council. In order to warrant independence and freedom of thought, neither current Councillors nor Past Presidents can be enrolled into these Committees. At all time, the ESTS Officers will be the liaison for the Committee Members for any specific request. Should any of the "Ad Hoc Committee" Members be elected to Council, he/she will automatically cease from the "Ad Hoc Committee" position.

The following Committees are to be instituted:

Ad Hoc Committee for Education in Thoracic Surgery
Ad Hoc Committee for International Relations
Ad Hoc Committee for Audit and Clinical Excellence
Ad Hoc Committee for Industrial Relations
Ad Hoc Committee for First Intervention Thoracic Surgical Task Force
Ad Hoc Committee for Technological Advancements
Ad Hoc Committee for Clinical Guidelines
Ad Hoc Committee for Women in Thoracic Surgery

And the following Roster of Members (in strict alphabetical order from left to right) have been suggested:

Gaetano Rocco
President-elect

ESTS School of Thoracic Surgery

In November 2006, ESTS Council approved the formation of a new ESTS School of Thoracic Surgery. Its aim is to provide focussed, interactive courses for surgeons approaching their final Specialty exams as well as a refresher course for others. There is currently no such Course available which is readily accessible to all.

The course is planned to last 5 days, and will probably be held alternatively in Antalya in Turkey (provisional date March 2008) and in Elancourt (Paris) in France (October-November 2008). Course fees will be low, and we will be inviting many members of ESTS to donate focussed lectures with multi-choice questions, clinical case scenarios and video clips. ESTS School will build a library of interactive presentations to help visiting lecturers. It is intended to hold small group discussions and include live surgery and hands-on sessions in the five day course.

If you are interested in applying for this course, either as a participant or a lecturer, please email Sue Hesford. If you have ideas for a focussed lecture on a specific subject, contact Richard Berrisford.

Task Forces

Following the previous working groups on mediastinal staging for NSCLC and lung metastasectomy, ESTS is now setting up two joint task forces in collaboration with ERS: The first task force on “Fitness for radical therapy (surgery and radiotherapy)” will be chaired by Alessandro Brunelli (Ancona, Italy) for ESTS and Anne Charloux (Strasbourg, France) for ERS. The second task force on “Malignant Mesothelioma” will be chaired by David Waller (Leicester, U.K.) for ESTS and Arnaud Scherpereel (Lille, France) for ERS.

ESTS has plans to set up a working group to establish guidelines on volume reduction surgery for emphysema. Interested members should contact Walter Weder.

Upcoming Annual Meetings

• 15th European Conference on General Thoracic Surgery, Leuven 2007

Following 5 successful meetings (Lisbon 2001, Vienna 2003, Leipzig 2004, Barcelona 2005, Stockholm 2006), joint meetings with the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery have come to an end.

From 2007 on, ESTS will continue to have its own scientific meeting as in the past, called the European Conference on General Thoracic Surgery. The Spring meeting will no longer be organized, but the concept of invited lectures and interactive case presentations will continue.

The 15th European Conference on General Thoracic Surgery will take place in Leuven, Belgium, 3-6 June 2007. The local organizing committee chaired by Toni Lerut is working hard to make this new meeting a great success for our members. 317 abstracts have been submitted prior to the deadline of 1st February 2007. Round 2 of the reviewing process will end shortly. The Programme Committee will meet in Leuven on 10th March 2007. Authors will be notified in writing in April 2007 as to whether their abstracts have been accepted. Abstracts will be published in a supplement issue of Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery. The meeting will include a Thoracic Techno Meeting and a Postgraduate Course. Registration and hotel booking is available online only at www.kuleuven.be/thorax/ests. The deadline for early registration is fixed on 30th April 2007.

• 16the European Conference on General Thoracic Surgery, Bologna 2008

In its meeting on 9th February 2007, Council has decided to hold the 16th European Conference on General Thoracic Surgery in Bologna, Italy, probably 8-11 June 2008 in the Palazzo Re Enzo. The meeting will be hosted by Sandro Mattioli.