Research, Education & Training
The World Society of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons is a global society of leading surgeons formed in 1990. The Society was started by the important "first generation" pioneers in the field of Cardiothoracic Surgery. The annual meetings rotate through all parts of the globe. The last seven meetings were held in Geneva, Switzerland (2014) Edinburgh, UK (2015), Cape Town, South Africa (2016), Astana, Kazakhstan (2017), Llubjana, Slovenia (2018), Sofia, Bulgaria (2019), St. Petersburgh, Russia (2022). The meetings were not held in 2020 and 2021 due to restrictions on international travel due to the Covid pandemic.
These meetings bring together experts from all parts of the globe. The WSCTS is the only truly International Society. It provides a forum where ideas and progress can be presented from all parts of the world, without geographical bias.
The inaugural meeting of the WSCTS was held in Chiang Mai (Thailand) in 1991. Juro Wada (Japan) was the founding Chancellor and led the Society from its establishment in 1990 to 2007, when he passed on the Chancellorship to Stuart Jamieson (San Diego, USA). Stuart Jamieson led the Society from 2007 to 2022, when he passed the baton to Hermann Reichenspurner (Hamburg, Germany). Herman Reichenspurner is the current Chancellor. Additional leadership of the Society includes the Vice-Chancellor, Sotirios Prapas (Athens, Greece), the Secretary-General Vipin Zamvar (Edinburgh, UK), the Treasurer Afksendiyos Kalangos (Athens, Greece), Senior Advisors Marko Turina (Zurich, Switzerland), and Stuart Jamieson (San Diego, USA).
Each year the Executive Board select a venue for the Annual Meeting three years in advance. Consideration is given to the geographical areas, with as yet unrepresented countries favoured, and essential to the selection is a local chairman who carries an international reputation and who is capable of organising a Congress worthy of the Society. The Chairman of the last years Congress assumes the role of President for the ensuing year.
To join the WSCTS, please click on the link below:
List of members of the Board with their position:
Hermann Reichenspurner (Hamburg, Germany): Chancellor
Sotirios Prapas (Athens, Greece): Vice-Chancellor
Vipin Zamvar (Edinburgh, UK): Secretary-General
Afksendiyos Kalangos (Athens, Greece): Treasurer
Marko Turina (Zurich, Switzerland): Senior Advisor
Stuart Jamieson (San Diego, USA): Senior Advisor, Past Chancellor
Afksendiyos Kalangos (born on September 11th, 1960) is a Greek-Swiss cardiovascular surgeon. He currently serves as Director of the Center for Congenital Heart and Tracheal Diseases at Euroclinic Hospital in Athens, Greece. He is a full Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery at Koc University in Istanbul and a former full professor at Geneva University in Switzerland. He completed his secondary education at Saint Benoit French College in Istanbul in 1978 and he studied medicine at Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical School and graduated in 1984. He later completed his specialization in cardiovascular surgery at Dr Siyami Ersek Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital. Afterward, he was trained more in London by Maghdi Yacoub between 1987-1988 and then in Paris by Alain Carpentier between 1991-1993 and Yves Lecompte between 2000- 2001. In 1993, he started working at Geneva University Hospital where he became the Chairman of the Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery in 2001 and Director of the Cardiovascular Center in 2011. He was nominated full professor at the University of Geneva and served here until the end of 2015. Between 2016 and 2019, he served as Chairman of the Department of Pediatric and Congenital Cardiovascular Surgery at Mitera Hospital in Athens Greece. He also serves as a Professor of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery at Koc University Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. He holds a mini-MBA degree from the University of Geneva in Health Management. He is the President and founder of the Kalangos Foundation, the President and founder of the Global Forum on Humanitarian Medicine in Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery and the President and co-founder of Global Heart Network. He was the former president of the World Society of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons from 2014 to 2015 and is currently the treasurer of the society. He published more than 300 articles mainly in different cardiovascular surgery and cardiology journals. He is the editor-in-chief of the JHCVM and JPCHD. He is also the inventor of the Kalangos biodegradable annuloplasty Ring. This device is being used in the repair of mitral and tricuspid valves, especially in children. He is also the inventor of the Kalangos biodegradable annuloplasty Ring. This device is being used in the repair of mitral and tricuspid valves, especially in children.
Published
Mar 2025
Dr Vipin Zamvar is a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He was born in 1965 and grew up in Mumbai, India. He graduated from Grant Medical College and finished his basic general surgical training at JJ Hospital, Mumbai. In 1991, he came to the UK to pursue training in Cardiac Surgery. He trained in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Southampton, Manchester and Cardiff. After completing his specialist training in 1999, he worked as a Consultant surgeon from 1999 to 2002 at Cardiff. In 2002, he moved to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Dr Zamvar has a joint cardiac and thoracic surgical practice and his main areas of interest are Coronary Artery Surgery (off-pump surgery, arterial revascularization), Aortic Valve Surgery, Lung Cancer Surgery, Robotic and Minimally Invasive Surgery. He takes a keen interest in teaching and training of junior surgeons. He has given many lectures worldwide on cardiac and thoracic surgical topics. He is the author of more than 100 papers published in peer-reviewed journals with an H index of 30 and an i10 index of 51. (Total number of citations > 5000). He was the President of the World Society of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons (WSCTS) from 2015 to 2016; and is currently the General-Secretary. He has been the Editor-in-Chief of the “Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery” since 2006. (Impact factor 1.5). He is an elected trustee of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland. In 2017, he described the “Zamvar Pericardial Fold”. This is a fold of pericardium over the left superior and inferior pulmonary veins, which is an ideal spot to place a deep pericardial retraction suture during off-pump coronary surgery (the Zamvar Pericardial Stitch). Dr Zamvar enjoys playing chess and his FIDE rating is just over 1750.
Published
Jan 2025
Hermann Reichenspurner went to a medical school in Munich. He started his training as a resident at the University Hospital in Munich in 1985. In 1987 he joined as a registrar the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. In 1989 he went back to Munich to finish his training first in General Surgery followed by a three-year additional training in cardiac surgery. In 1994 he started as a fellow of a cardiothoracic transplantation at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, USA. In 1996 he got a position as Assistant Professor at the University Heart Center in Dresden, Germany. In 1997 he took a position as Associate Professor at the University of Munich. In 2001 he became chairman and full Professor at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the University Hospital Hamburg Eppendorf. In 2005 he took over the position as chairman of the newly founded University Heart Center Hamburg. He served as president of the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery from 2001 to 2002, as President of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation from 2014 to 2015 as Chancellor of the World Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery from 2023. He received his MD degree in 1995 at the University of Munich and his PhD degree at the University of Cape Town in 1992.
Published
Nov 2024
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