ACC Scientific Session canceled amid COVID-19 concerns; virtual options to be announced
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The American College of Cardiology today announced it has canceled its annual Scientific Session together with the World Congress of Cardiology due to the increasing number of U.S. and worldwide travel advisories and restrictions placed on institutions and health care providers in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The ACC Scientific Session was scheduled for March 28 to 30 in Chicago.
In related news, the European Heart Rhythm Association announced it canceled its annual scientific congress which was to be held March 29 to 31 in Vienna.
The ACC stated that it is exploring ways to conduct the meeting virtually, and virtual options for science and award presentations will be announced in the near future.
In a statement issued to the media, the ACC said the cancellation was a response to the spread of COVID-19, which has prompted numerous institutions to restrict their employees from traveling.
“The health, safety and well-being of our members, staff, exhibitors, faculty and other stakeholders is of paramount importance,” Richard J. Kovacs, MD, FACC, president of the ACC, said in a press release. “With an ever-increasing number of ACC members on the front lines of preparing and reacting to the COVID-19 outbreak, it is in the best interest of everyone to cancel the meeting and ensure our members are able to do what they do best — help and heal.”
B. Hadley Wilson, MD, FACC, executive vice-chair of The Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute, Atrium Health, clinical professor of medicine at UNC School of Medicine and chair of the membership committee of the ACC’s board of trustees, agreed.
“In view of the ever-growing path of COVID-19, I think everyone agrees that cancellation of ACC.20, one of the largest annual international cardiology meetings, was the right thing to do,” he told Healio. “Our responsibilities first are to fight this pandemic, and second to see how we can effectively communicate broadly to cardiovascular clinicians and scientists throughout the world the impactful late breaking clinical trial results and other important learnings from the ACC.20 through telecommunication. ACC.20 together with the World Congress of Cardiology is indeed a worldwide meeting and we will need to respond in a global fashion.”
COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019, is caused by a virus named SARS-CoV-2.
As Healio previously reported, the ACC in February posted a bulletin outlining current knowledge of COVID-19, its cardiac implications and information on cardiac-specific preparedness.
Among the ACC’s recommendations for providers:
- Make plans for quickly identifying and isolating CV patients with COVID-19 symptoms from other patients, including in the ambulatory setting;
- It is reasonable to advise all CV patients of the potential increased risk and to encourage additional, reasonable precautions in accordance with CDC guidance;
- Patients must remain current on vaccines, including the influenza as well as the pneumococcal vaccine to prevent secondary bacterial infection;
- General immunological health remains important for both providers and patients;
- In areas with active outbreaks, telehealth visits for routine examinations may be appropriate to avoid possible infection; and
- In patients with HF or volume overload, copious fluid administration for viral infection should be used cautiously and carefully monitored.
In a statement released to the media, the European Society of Cardiology and the EHRA said the following: “With severe measures being taken by hospitals to deal with the epidemic, a rapidly growing number of congress faculty have informed us that they are unable to travel. Under the circumstances, cancelling EHRA 2020 was deemed the only responsible course of action. The ESC is now considering whether to reschedule at least some of the event for a later date or deliver some of the planned content via online platforms.”
For the latest news on COVID-19 including case counts, information about the global public health response and emerging research, please visit the COVID-19 Resource Center on Healio.
Healio and Cardiology Today are following this news and will report on new developments.
For More Information:
B. Hadley Wilson, MD, FACC, can be reached at hadley.wilson@atriumhealth.org.
Disclosures: Kovacs and Wilson report no relevant financial disclosures.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated on March 10, 2020 with comments from Dr. Wilson.