Dear Colleagues:

The April 2006 Symposium on Heart Failure is coming to an end. After 30 intense days with a lot of questions and replies still to be answered, we plan to end this scientific event according to our original schedule. We are proud of what we have achieved, for we all have obtained better insight into this prevalent and complex disease that is associated with high morbidity and mortality.

We had 11,893 registrants from 107 different countries, and this response far exceeded our expectations. The Symposium has been translated into 4 simultaneous languages, we have added Chinese and Russian to our usual Spanish and Portuguese translations, we have obtained CME credits provided by ACCME from USA, and we have added numerous registrants from "non-traditional" countries in our Symposium. Approximately 10 daily questions were added to the 4 discussion forums in their respective languages. In addition, 35 lectures (with 116 translations in HTML and 232 in PDF formats), 3 clinical cases, 2 webcasts, 1 multimedia presentation, and 6 international interviews (Argentina, USA, Russia, India, China and Brazil) were provided. Access was made available to 134 heart failure trials, and international diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines were highlighted.

The International Society of Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiography (ISHNE) is proud of having presented this event that is now part of the series started with the First Virtual Symposium on the Brugada Syndrome held in 2001. Since then, we have held the Long QT Syndrome (LQTS), the Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia (ARVD), and the Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Symposia, and we will continue with one on Sudden Cardiac Death next October.

Renowned colleagues from different countries have presented very topical lectures, either written, through PowerPoint presentations, or through radio interviews. The forum involved ongoing questions and replies. This approach made this symposium an international event, and we feel very satisfied for having been its organizers.

We thank our faculty who with their lectures provided a high level of academic excellence to the symposium, our cardiology experts for their presentations, all the physicians who interactively participated in this Symposium, the authorities of ISHNE for their ongoing support for this innovative approach to Continuing Medical Education, and St. Jude Medical with its generous support of this program.

We would like to especially mention and thank Dr. Li Zhang who coordinated all the activity of the Symposium in China and the corresponding translation, Dr. Leonid Makarov who enabled us to transmit and discuss this knowledge in Russian, Dr. Wojciech Zareba for his coordination of the CME credits, and Dr.Ricardo Perez Riera for his unwavering collaboration. We also thank Bruce Meredith and his SJM team for the suggestions and help provided.

Finally, we want to thank all our team of professional translators and interpreters, computer technicians, specialists in networks, graphic designers, sound technicians, radio presenters, and secretaries who anonymously provided behind the scenes support that enabled our symposium to operate efficiently and effectively. As you may imagine, the size of this list is such that it would be impossible to include them by name in this letter, but each one of them is listed in our minds and hearts because they have been the real makers of this Symposium.

Thank you very much for all you involvement. We invite you to join us in October for our next educational program on Sudden Cardiac Death.

Arthur, Sergio, and Edgardo

Arthur J. Moss, MD (Rochester, NY, USA)
Sergio Dubner, MD (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Edgardo S. Schapachnik, MD (Buenos Aires, Argentina)