October saw the coming together of the international echocardiography community at the World Summit of Echocardiography and the British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) President, Professor Dan Augustine, has shared his thoughts.
Previous world summits have been held in Buenos Aires, New Delhi, Beijing, and Rio de Janeiro. This 5th iteration saw the torch being passed to Guadalajara, Mexico. The summit brought together faculty from over 40 countries, representing echocardiography on a global scale.
The summit featured hour-long symposiums on various echocardiography topics, running from 08:00 – 17:00 each day from Thursday 31 October – Saturday 2 November 2024. Each symposium included three presentations with interactive question and answer sessions. Real-time translators via delegate headsets helped navigate any potential language barriers, ensuring inclusivity for all attendees.
There was truly something for everyone: congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathies, pulmonary hypertension, advanced techniques, artificial intelligence, valvular heart disease updates, interventional echo, cardio-oncology and much more. The organizing committee from the Cardiology Association of Mexico (ANCAM), the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI) did a tremendous job in curating this event.
The congress coincided with Mexico’s much-celebrated ‘Day of the Dead’ (Dia de los Muertos), a tradition and annual holiday where family and friends pay respects and remember loved ones who have passed. The celebrations, which include floral offerings, skeleton costumes, makeup, and masks, take on a respectful yet festive tone. We saw some of these celebrations in the congress itself!
I am particularly grateful that the BSE was invited to the World Echo Summit for the first time, a sign of the impact our collaborations and partnerships are having across the global echocardiography community. I was honoured to chair a session and deliver two presentations: one on echocardiography in pulmonary hypertension and the other on the application of atrial strain in aortic valve disease. A personal highlight was meeting and speaking with the great Roberto Lang.
Mexico is an amazing place with incredibly friendly people. Unfortunately, the busy schedule of the congress left no time for sightseeing, but I plan to return as a tourist in the future.
During the summit, I had the opportunity to represent the BSE and meet individually with numerous echo and cardiology presidents and representatives from various nations and societies, including those from America, EACVI, Brazil, Argentina, the Philippines, Colombia, Mexico, Malaysia, and more. Our discussions focused on promoting best practices across the world, particularly in areas such as the application of artificial intelligence in echocardiography. You’ll hear more about this in the coming months.
This week has been about the global echocardiography community coming together. I’ve been inspired by everyone’s willingness, irrespective of nationality, to move in the same direction. This collaborative spirit will benefit all our collective memberships and the echo community as a whole.
