Each year the science of extracorporeal circulation is spread through numerous meetings devoted to cardiac surgery and cardiovascular perfusion. Perfusionists, and those interested in the field of cardiopulmonary bypass, are provided ample opportunities to attend formal venues in many locations throughout the world. Perhaps no other group of professionals is provided with such a variety of choices to receive continuing education on this rapidly changing technology. Although no worldwide census of cardiovascular perfusionists has ever been conducted, it has been estimated that over one million cardiac surgical procedures are preformed each year that require cardiopulmonary bypass. If one were to use the average number of cases, confirmed in several American surveys, performed each year per perfusionist as approximately 150, then the number of perfusionists practicing throughout the world would be approximately 6,600.
The American Society of Extra-Corporeal Circulation has conducted a yearly meeting for the past 39 years, serving as the longest continuously held gathering devoted to this critical subject matter. Meeting organizers have utilized the word ‘international’ as a descriptive term for as far back as recent memory allows. Anyone who has participated in this gathering can attest to this by observing the ethnic breadth of those in attendance, and by the diversity of countries represented in papers presented at the plenary sessions. This meeting is also the source of a significant number of papers for the Journal that is submitted as part of the requirement for presentation.
In this issue we publish, for the first time, select abstracts from the Australasian Society of CardioVascular Perfusionists 17th Annual Scientific Meeting, which was held in Auckland, New Zealand in the fall of last year. Topics range from off- pump surgery to techniques of assessing venous cannulation for pediatric cardiopulmonary bypass. They include case reports (pulsatile perfusion in the pregnant patient), clinical evaluations (beating heart surgery), and basic science (hemolysis during short-term ventricular assistance). Topics not dissimilar to those presented at Asian, European and North American perfusion meetings. The decision to publish these abstracts was made by the editorial board only after careful reflection on the value of such reporting. A number of factors were involved in the analysis, which included the clinical uniqueness and technological utility of the abstracts. An underlying notion of the effect on collegiality was also prominent in the decision.
In a world that has become digitally dependent the term international becomes more the norm then the exception. Barriers to the advancement of knowledge outside the borders of affluent countries have all but vanished. It is truly impressive that perfusionists, with our meager number when compared to other health professionals, have been so successful in the advancement of a science that has done so much for those so in need.
Sincerely,
Alfred H. Stammers, MSA, CCP
Editor