the 34 bulletin
The British and Irish Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (BISMICS) 2nd annual meeting Glaziers Hall, London 2nd – 3rd November The two-day meeting was hosted by a multi-disciplinary faculty including cardiologists, anaesthetists, perfusionists, industry partners and patient representatives. Bilal H Kirmani, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon
Presentation at BISMICS by Mattia Glauber
T
he charity is now in it’s 2nd year (www.bismics.org.uk) and with generous support from across industry, the meeting aims to bring together national expertise in minimally invasive techniques to foster development in centres nationwide. In addition to members from Britain and Ireland, there were invited speakers from prominent European and North American centres, who provided insight as to how their units had achieved such high penetrance in their minimally invasive programmes. An update on the randomised, controlled Mini-Mitral trial sparked lively debate from the chiefs of two international units, who questioned the morality of denying patients minimally invasive surgery if it was available. This answered a question that was later posed by the president of the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery (ISMICS) during his talk: Why was there a need for BISMICS
when ISMICS already exists? With commissioning restrictions growing ever tighter, the need to scientifically demonstrate the clinical and financial benefits of minimally invasive cardiac surgery could only be conducted and effectively recruited to here in the United Kingdom. As such, therefore, the need exists for a separate support, lobbying and training group with awareness of local political pressures. Those responsibilities, highlighted in the BISMICS charter, were demonstrated amply in the meeting agenda. Debates between cardiologists and minimally invasive surgeons served as reminders of the existing arena and players that centres wishing to start minimally invasive programmes will have to contend, compete and ultimately collaborate with. The opportunity for trainees and junior surgeons to have handson experience in the wetlabs during the first day highlighted the importance of exposure to technologies provided by industry. Training – at junior and consultant levels – featured heavily in the programme and plans to develop fellowship and in-house training for interested surgeons were also discussed. Of particular interest were the speakers from surgery, anaesthetics and perfusion who gave pragmatic technical
talks, including equipment options, strategies and pitfalls to avoid. The meeting was well attended and we look forward to next year’s meeting in November 2018. n