HRS: Lead management, ablation updates on tap at meeting

Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) will offer new sessions as well as topics that were well received at previous meetings for its 2013 scientific sessions scheduled May 8-11 in Denver. The meeting, to be kicked off by a plenary session by former President Bill Clinton, will include more than 250 sessions and 900 heart rhythm experts.

Among the most anticipated offerings this year will be the Lead Management Forum that will address caring for patients, from pediatric to elderly, with implantable devices. “Lead survivability or failure is a topic of interest in our field because the pacing or ICD [implantable cardioverter-defibrillator] lead is the weakest link in device therapy,” said Anne M. Gillis, MD, president of the HRS and a professor at the University of Calgary.

The program also will feature a ventricular tachyarrhythmia/ventricular fibrillation summit to highlight emerging technology in ablation and related topics. Other sessions in the scientific program include lookbacks at pacing, defibrillation and ablation and the pioneers who advanced the field; joint sessions on guidelines and clinical registries as a tool in healthcare reform; and presentations on safety and reimbursement issues.

Attendees also will have the opportunity to review abstracts, observe live-case presentations and participate in educational and training events.

Also, keeping with its tradition of making the event “green,” HRS gives attendees the option to forgo print versions of the program book and encourages them to bring bags from previous conferences or briefcases for carrying materials. This year no badges will be mailed in advance; instead, everyone will pick up badges on site.