Authors

• Davor Miličić — ORCID: 0000-0001-9101-1570

DOI

Full Text

October 17-20, 2019 Dubrovnik, Croatia Welcome to Croatia, welcome to the 6 th Dubrovnik Cardiology Highlights! The ESC Update Meetings in Dubrovnik began in 2009 based on the decision of the ESC Education Committee under the presidency of Professor Otto A. Smiseth. It was agreed from the start that the Dubrovnik Meeting would be organized by the Croatian Cardiac Society and endorsed as the ESC Update Meeting in Cardiology. We are also very proud that this is the third time the Meeting has been organized under the patronage of the Medical Department of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Over the years, only two of four members of the ESC Update Meetings have survived – the Davos Meeting that started in 1975, and the youngest one – the Dubrovnik Cardiology Highlights, which is now celebrating its 10th anniversary. Its founding fathers are still enthusiastically organizing and chairing the Meeting: Otto A. Smiseth and myself, with support of our co-directors: Thiery Gillebert, Dan Gaita and Zlatko Fras. Maja Čikeš soon joined as the Scientific Secretary of the Meeting, with the help of Cardiology Fellows of the Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University Hospital Centre Zagreb. We hope you will enjoy our Scientific Programme for the 2019 Highlights, because of its comprehensiveness, selection of relevant topics, presentation of the newest ESC guidelines, and recommendations and position papers. Special thanks go to the Faculty, who will enrich the Meeting with their outstanding talks and interactive chairmanship, but we would also like to thank all participants, who will surely provide invaluable contributions to the Meeting with their curiosity and vivid discussions. As previously, we are continuing with interactive posters and with the already traditional Zagreb-Zurich Fellows’ Session. On this occasion, we are particularly happy to host fifty (!) Turkish colleagues led by Professor Oktay Ergene, the president of the Turkish Society of Cardiology. Do not miss the Joint Croatian-Turkish Session within the Meeting! We are also grateful to our sponsors for their unrestricted donations and for the attractive Exhibition at the Meeting. Their Satellite Symposia will undoubtedly also enrich the Programme with the newest topics covering drugs and devices in cardiology. Last but not least, our PCO, the “Spektar” Company, did a great job as always, and they deserve our deep gratitude for the technical organization and logistics. Dear colleagues, let the unique beauty of Dubrovnik be once again our frame and inspiration for enjoying both the Scientific Programme and our professional networking, for reviving old and starting new friendships! Sincerely yours, Professor Davor Miličić , MD, PhD, FESC, FACC