Registration is still open online, however registration and payment of congress fees as well as payment of ISCP membership dues can be completed via the website or on-site during the congress.

Click here to register online for the 17th International Congress of ISCP.

Registration on site will start on Thursday, May 4th at 07:30 at the Pullman Bucharest World Trade Center.

Currency: Cash payments for registration on site must be in Euros only.
Credit cards: Payment by credit card will be acceptable at the Congress site.
Personal cheques will not be accepted.

Click here for more information on submitting abstracts and poster presentations.

Click here to download the final programme (PDF)

The scientific sessions of ISCP will this year be devoted to advances in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy and we have produced a programme designed to give the audience ample time to interact with the members of the Scientific Committee both during the lectures and poster sessions.

Click here to register for the 17th International Congress of the ISCP.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is now the most prevalent disease to affect the Chinese population. This study describes how 30% of the population sample had ≥3 CV risk factors, and as such prevention strategies must now be employed to help manage the rapid increase in CVD prevalence in the Chinese population, or face an ‘epidemiological transition’ that will develop faster than anything known in the west.

The western world has been facing a growing CVD epidemic, and it is evident that the Chinese population is beginning to follow suit.

The increase in CV risk factors in the Chinese population – smoking, obesity and hypertension, to name but a few – correlate to the modernization of Chinese society, and is similar to the epidemiological transition that western societies have experienced since the Industrial Revolution.

Although western countries have various CVD prevention strategies and programmes, these must be applied in the context of Chinese culture in order to meet the needs of this population. Furthermore, Visscher notes that changes in western governments towards a more right-wing school of thought may negatively impact on current global CVD prevention strategies.

Ultimately, unless this issue is dealt with, the increase in CVD risk factors in the Chinese population will result in a major epidemic that will have implications and consequences that reach far beyond China’s borders.

Read the full editorial here.

In a recent editorial published in the European Heart Journal, Zahi A. Fayad and Venkatesh Mani from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA, and Valentin Fuster from the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Madrid Spain outline the need for more clinical trials, such as The Rotterdam Study, that use plaque characterisation as an endpoint.

Conventional CV risk factors and the Framingham risk score do not fully account for CV events in asymptomatic patients. Techniques such as MR have allowed detailed information regarding plaque characteristics to be determined, which will undoubtedly help screen asymptomatic patients at risk of CV events, and who would benefit from early therapies or aggressive treatment.

The authors of this editorial state that although studies such as the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) study and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) carotid MRI study have helped identify risk factors and shown the correlation between carotid thickness and various plaque characteristics such as Lipid Rich Necrotic Centres (LRNC) – more studies are needed that employ standardised methodologies for plaque characterisation, and that quantitatively measure high-risk plaque features as an endpoint.

Read the full editorial here.

The paper outlines how previous studies exploring drug-gene interactions have led to the FDA adapting recommendations so they take into account the possible effects of heritable genetic polymorphisms have on drug therapy.

This paper summarises the current knowledge on the pharmacogenomics of all major drug classes used to treat cardiovascular diseases, providing a body of evidence that suggests we are on the verge of a radical overhaul in our approach towards cardiovascular pharmacotherapy.

Read the abstract here.

An analysis of more than 100,000 patients, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, concluded the risk of internal bleeding was too high.

The UK-led study said only people with a history of heart problems or stroke should take the tablets. Prof Kausik Ray, from St George’s, University of London, tells the BBC: “If you treat 73 people for about six years you will get one of these non-trivial bleeds. If you treat about 160 people for the same period of time, you’re preventing one heart attack that probably wouldn’t have been fatal anyway.

“It suggests that the net benefit for aspirin is not there, it certainly doesn’t prolong life. If you think about it the net benefit, actually there is net harm.”

Further reading:

Sreenivasa Rao Kondapally Seshasai, MD, MPhil; Shanelle Wijesuriya, MA, MBBChir; Rupa Sivakumaran, MA, MBBChir; Sarah Nethercott, MA, MBBChir; Sebhat Erqou, MD, PhD;Naveed Sattar, MD, PhD; Kausik K. Ray, MD. Effect of aspirin on vascular and nonvascular outcomes: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern Med Published online January 9, 2012. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.628.

Click here to visit the event website.

During this live webcast, participants can watch the forum sessions live online and ask the moderator questions during the sessions.

CVCT Forum takes place from 2-3 December 2011 in Paris, if you cannot attend the CVCT Forum, with the webcast you will still be able to discuss the latest clinical trials issues directly with an impressive list of Key Opinion Leaders and clinical trial coordinators, regulatory authorities, as well as research and development staff from pharmaceutical companies.

Download the CVCT Forum Programme

Download Registration Instructions and Technical Requirements