On behalf of the organizing committee we are proud to cordially invite you to the meeting “The Failing Heart Under Stress” to be held on November 20-22, 2005 at the RAI congress center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

This meeting follows our series of successful preceding meetings in 1992 and 2002. A similar format will be followed but the forthcoming meeting will display a much more extended and international character than the preceding events. The endorsement of several international scientific societies will be obtained. Appropriate accreditation will be granted. The possibility to submit abstracts for poster presentations will be encouraged.

Heart failure becomes more and more a pathophysiological and therapeutic problem, involving not only acute and chronic situations but also a plethora of neurohumoral and metabolic, pharmacological, electrophysiological and interventional cardiological approaches.

Accordingly, the objective of the present congress is to bring together a group of experts representing those medical specialties which are involved in the clinical care for patients with chronic and acute heart failure. This large group of specialists comprises anesthesiologists, intensivists, cardiologists, cardiac- and vascular surgeons, internists involved in diabetology and hypertension care, clinical pharmacologists, physiologists and cardiac surgical approaches.

Subjects to be dealt with will comprise:

• Echocourse
• Masterclass in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy
• Cardiovascular interventions (including life cases)
• Advances in cardiac imaging (myocardial function and metabolic activity)
• Advances in cardiac surgical support of patients with heart failure

A number of pathophysiological entities all leading to the genesis and progression of Heart Failure under chronic and acute conditions will be highlighted:

• RAAS system
• Hypertension
• Diabetes mellitus
• Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance
• Sympathetic nervous system

© 2004 The Failing Heart Under Stress