PCCS 2009

World Congresses in Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (WCPCCS) have a relatively short history - the first took place at in Paris in 1993 and have since then been held every four years in Hawaii (1997), Toronto (2001) and Buenos Aires (2005).

Approximate attendance History of Past Congresses

  • Paris (1993) = 1500
  • Hawaii (1997) = 2000
  • Toronto (2001) = 2200
  • Buenos Aires (2005) = 3000

The 5th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery will take place from June 21 to June 26 2009. It will be held in the highly reputed Convention Centre in the Tropical Capital of Australia in Cairns, Queensland. Additional Convention space will be available at the closely adjacent The Sebel Cairns.

The meeting will be organised by a combined group of Paediatric Cardiologists and Cardiac Surgeons from all the Australian and New Zealand centres.

Several sub-specialty meetings (previously referred to as Incorporated Satellites) will take place within the Congress. These will be programmed to take place as parallel sessions on Monday, 22 June and Tuesday, 23 June.

These will include:

  • Paediatric Cardiac Intervention (organised jointly with PICS, Sun 21 - Tues 23);
  • Paediatric Electro-physiology & Cardiac Arrhythmias;
  • Adult Congenital Heart Disease (GUCHD);
  • Imaging, including MRI as well as Echocardiography and Fetal Echo;
  • Paediatric Cardiac Nursing;
  • Paediatric Cardiac Intensive Care/Anaesthesia/Perfusion (organised jointly with PCICS);
  • Surgical (organised jointly with WSPCHS);
  • Paediatric Cardiomyopathy/Transplant/Pulmonary Hypertension.

A wide range of matters will be covered within the main meeting itself. These will be structured as "focus" sessions, each taking half a day, with up to 4 parallel sessions. Each such session will include contributions from different specialty groups, selected free abstracts and, in some cases, an invited lecture. Additional "free abstract" sessions will be programmed alongside these sessions.

Trainee "master classes" will also occur during the meeting and will be structured to provide an educational introduction relevant to the "focus" sessions programmed for the following day.

Those delegates attending the Interventional Specialty Meeting should plan to arrive in Cairns by Saturday, 20 June as this meeting will start on Sunday, 21 June.

The Honorary Presidents for this meeting will be Prof Abraham Rudolph, UCSF, San Francisco and Prof Roger Mee, RCH Melbourne / Cleveland Clinic.

Other delegates should plan to arrive in Cairns by Sunday, 21 June, when the Opening Ceremony will be scheduled followed by a Welcome Reception. The meeting will close on Friday, 26 June.

June is in the 'dry season' in the tropics and in Cairns the daytime temperatures are usually between 22 and 26 degrees Celsius (approximately 70 - 75 o F).