International Circulation:  You are the chairperson of the Congress Program Committee.  Could you please talk about the highlights of ESC 2009 and what the participants need to focus on?

Fausto Pinto:  Well this meeting is currently the largest meeting in cardiovascular medicine in the world.  The highlight this year is on prevention - prevention in cardiovascular disease， from man to society and it was selected because cardiovascular disease is in a lot of certain senses can be prevented.  And in prevention there are several new aspects connected with the use of different diagnostic modalities， different ways of assessing the risk factors in the early stage.  So that was one of the focuses of this meeting.  But the fact that we have one highlight every year does not mean that we do not cover the whole spectrum of different topics in cardiovascular medicine.  Again this year we have over 600 hours of sessions， over 400 something sessions in different formats where we will have from basic science to clinical science covering the full spectrum of cardiovascular disease.  There are some practical sessions like the focus sessions where we have even some demonstrations and live transmissions from different centers in Europe demonstrating some different techniques.  We do have experts and therapy experts.  We have hot lines to clinical trial outlets where the most relevant clinical trials are presenting the latest results and also the metered trialists where there is an opportunity to have a face to face basis and meet the trialists in sessions moderated by the discussions of those trials.  And also if you look at the basic science component of it there is a science hotline and there are several sessions which address the most relevant and recent aspects of cardiovascular research.  So there is a little bit of something for everybody that has somehow or has some relation with cardiovascular science.  Again from basic science to clinical science， cardiologists， surgeons， and technicians， sonographers， nurses and so on.  We also have some sessions that are dedicated to some aspects of policy， we do have a giant session with the European commission where we will be addressing some issues such as support of cardiovascular research in Europe and some sessions with some sister societies like the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association and the World Heart Federation， some societies that are somehow related to the highlight of this year like the Diabetes Society or the Prevention Society and the Oncologists Society and some others.  So it is a very large congress with a lot of different opportunities for the different attendees being able to go attend.

Fausto Pinto:  ESC是目前世界上最大型的心血管病研讨会。今年的会议焦点在于如何从细胞-人体-社会角度预防心血管病。选择这个角度的原因是预防心血管病有诸多途径，新观点为使用不同诊断形式、不同方法进行早期评估，这是本次会议焦点之一。事实上，虽然每年都会定一个会议重点，但这并不意味着将漏掉心血管病领域的其他议题。今年预计会期600多小时，其中400多小时将用来讨论心血管病领域的基础-临床科学。实践会议（如焦点会）上，将由欧洲分中心现场传输示范多种新技术。热线会将展示最新相关临床试验结果。试验者会是最受欢迎的部分，因为有机会与试验研究者面对面会谈，讨论这些试验。如果关注基础科学部分，就会发现一整套计划，包括科学热点和心血管领域最新数据。心血管病学与每个人都有或多或少的联系，包括基础-临床学、心血管病专家、外科医生、技术人员、超声检查者、护士等等。部分会议还将关注相关保险政策。欧洲委员会会议还将简述如何推广欧洲心血管病研究，此外，本届会议还与美国心脏学会、美国心脏病协会、世界健康同盟及糖尿病学会、预防学会和肿瘤学会等其他学会联合举办分论坛。总之，会议规模庞大，为与会者提供各种机会参与研讨。