The Minnesota Chapter of the American College of Cardiology has a mission to promote optimal cardiovascular care and disease prevention through public and professional education, promotion of research, leadership in the development of standards and guidelines and the formulation of health care policy.

2009 Conference

The annual Chapter Conference was held June 4 at the Bloomington Hilton near the airport. Approximately 80 attended, as well as 10 sponsors and exhibitors. We learned about stem cell research going on in Minnesota and we learned about Heart Failure with Normal Systolic Function.

Barry Borlaug from the Mayo Clinic and Gary Francis from the U of M helped us understand that we don't know a lot about heart failure in patients with normal systolic function. It may, in fact, not be normal. We may be taking away chronotropic reserve in such patients when we treat them with drugs slowing the heart. We learned what was most striking is that we know so little about the condition that we don't know what to call it; a reflection of not knowing what we are describing. We should treat congestion and hypertension… and hope that our skilled colleagues can come up with an answer some day.

We learned from Jay Traverse from the Minneapolis Heart Institute and Robert Simari from the Mayo Clinic explained that the use of stem cells to promote cardiac repair is in its early days. Some studies have shown clinical improvement in the impaired ventricle. Many different cell types and delivery ideas are under study. In Minnesota, our colleagues at the Minneapolis Heart Institute are involved in an NIH trial treating anterior MI both early and late with stem cell therapy.

Thank you to all who attended. It was an evening of stimulating education and excellent networking.

The MN-ACC conference was supported by St. Jude Medical as a Sustaining Sponsor and more than ten exhibitors.

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