When expert opinion does matter...

The Roland Hetzer International Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery Society (RHICS), held its 2nd Expert Forum on February 11th 2012 in Freiburg, Germany, just three months after the 1st Expert Forum which took place in Lisbon, Portugal, in pursuit of its goals and objectives, which are primarily to provide a forum for expert discussion on relevant cardiothoracic issues and to set up guidelines based on conclusions derived from this expert opinion forum. A most pertinent aim is to promote cardiothoracic surgical education skills from beyond standardized and statistical medicine to a patient-based medicine where in treatment approaches are individualized and personalized, and specific high quality treatment tailored to the patient’s unique pathology so as to give them an optimal quality of life, after surgery. The furtherance of continuing medical education through the holding of regular symposia and meetings and the continuance of clinical and experimental research efforts and the publication of the results in scientific journals is another meaningful concept of the society. The RHICS continues to foster international collaboration and cooperation in clinical practice and scientific research in cardiothoracic and vascular surgery and associated fields. With numerous annual meetings, symposia, and conferences taking place in the field of cardiothoracic surgery, notwithstanding the hundreds of published expertise papers on new developments, ongoing researches, new technologies and techniques, surgical outcomes and their implications for clinical practice, when does an expert opinion matter? We are constantly bombarded with controversies in surgical options to manage cardiovascular diseases. What strategies to offer, what to repair, when to replace, for what disease, and for whom, seem to be eternal questions. Then again, which option gives the most acceptable, if not the most excellent, E di to ri al When expert opinion does matter... E.M. Delmo Walter, R. Hetzer Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin, Berlin, Germany