General Information

Abstract of theXXVIIth MEETING of the ASSOCIATION OF CARDIAC SURGEONS

The biannual Meeting of the Association of Cardiac Surgeons (ACS) is a large gathering of cardiovascular and allied health professionals from all over the world. The Meeting draws cardiovascular surgeons, cardiologists, researchers and other cardiovascular specialists from around the globe and is an opportunity to connect with the other members of the cardiovascular healthcare team. The ACS provides a broad spectrum of cardiovascular health professionals with current scientific information and, accredited education opportunities. It is also an ideal forum to connect with other cardiovascular health care professionals.

Technical Support

If you have any questions regarding the online submission program or have any difficulties submitting your abstract, please contact:
Email: Meeting.ACS@gmail.com
Fax: 1 (514) 340 7561
Phone 1 (514) 928-2959

Fee

The submission of abstracts to the ACS Congress is free. You can submit your abstract by Email at Meeting.ACS@gmail.com starting on December 1^st, 2010. The deadline for submitting abstracts is April 1^st, 2011.

Evaluation and Selection of Abstracts

Abstract evaluation is performed by blind review by a group of experts within a particular field. The review committee is responsible for grouping the abstracts appropriately according to their particular specialty. Abstracts are selected on a scientific merit basis.
Authors are expected to attend the meeting and present their abstract. All presenting authors must register for the Meeting and are responsible for their own transportation and accommodation at the ACS. Registration will open on www.cardacsurgeons.ca on December 1^st, 2010. Registration is NOT complimentary.

Status of Abstract Notification

All abstracts submitted must comply with the following guidelines to be considered for acceptance. An email will be sent to the author informing him/her of the acceptance or rejection of abstracts. Notifications will be sent by May 1^st. In addition to this email notification.

The “Pierre Grondin” award

A CAD$ 5,000 scholarship will be awarded to the best abstract submitted by a trainee (resident or fellow). The Scholarship comes with an invitation to participate to an 3 month exchange program at the Montreal Heart Institute for none Canadian trainees or Europeen Centres of their choice for non European. Please identify such abstracts, should they be eligible for the scholarship.

Submission Guidelines

Abstract deadline - Abstracts must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. (EDT), May 1^st, 2011. Submissions in printed format or faxed abstracts will not be accepted. The submission system will identify your abstract as complete or incomplete. If incomplete, the system will flag the one or more steps that require your attention. Submissions with incomplete status will not be accepted. The submitter will have until the submission deadline to complete the abstract submission. Accepted abstracts will be published in a special section in the “Journal of Cardiac Surgery”. Authors whose abstracts are accepted give ACS the implicit permission and authority to submit and publish their abstract, without compensation, in the ”Journal of Cardiac Surgery”.

An abstract scheduled to be published as a journal manuscript prior to June 1^st, 2011 cannot be presented at the ACS. Submission of an abstract constitutes a commitment by the author(s) as to the integrity of the data presented as well as a consent to submit.

General formatting guidelines:
• Use standard abbreviations (LV, RBC, Meq). Place unusual abbreviations in parentheses after the full word the first time it appears. Please keep abbreviated terms to a minimum.
• Use numerals to indicate numbers except at the beginning of sentences.
• Use non-proprietary (generic) drug names.
• Symbols can be embedded in the abstract body. The ACS will not be responsible for any symbols, graphics, fonts or special characters which do not appear or are lost in translation due to software or hardware incompatibilities with the file submitted.

Abstract Submission Guidelines:
• Background: A brief statement of the purpose of the study (100 words)
• Method/Results: A statement of the method(s) of investigation & a summary of the results presented in sufficient detail to support conclusions (275 words). One image and one table may be submitted in this section of the abstract. Images are to be uploaded separately. Ensure that your image is legible once uploaded. If not legible, adjust the quality or format of your image and upload again.
• Conclusion: A brief statement of results obtained (125 words) – it is not acceptable to state “the results will be discussed”.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement
For each abstract submitted, a conflict of interest disclosure form identifying commercial relationships must be completed for each author. The submitting author is to identify all conflicts applicable to all authors. By disclosing any direct or indirect conflict of interest, the submitter authorizes the Association of Cardiac Surgeons to disclose said conflict. Disclosure information for accepted abstracts will be made available to ACS delegates.

The submission of an abstract constitutes a commitment by the author(s) to present their work. There is no limit to the number of abstracts an individual may submit.

If the author's names appear on more than one abstract, their names must appear identically on each abstract in order to facilitate proper indexing.

A submitter should not “split” data to create several abstracts from one. If splitting is identified as having taken place, the scores of all related abstracts will be reduced. Abstracts containing identical or near identical data submitted from the same institution and/or individuals may be disqualified.

Accepted Abstract Withdrawal
Withdrawal of accepted abstracts must be received at Meeting.ACS@gmail.com, no later than April 1^st, 2011 to avoid publication in the Journal of Cardiac Surgery.