ABSTRACT SUBMISSION WILL OPEN ON 1 DECEMBER 2010

Please follow the instructions given on-line, otherwise your abstract cannot be selected for review. A summary of the guidelines is as follows:

• The abstract language is English
• The text should be not more than 300 words
• The use of 1 table or 1 graph is possible
• The abstract must consist of four paragraphs labelled: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS
• The text and the title should be free from abbreviations, except those commonly used. It should concisely address the problem and the purpose of the study (OBJECTIVE); how the study was performed (METHODS); the main findings with numerical data and statistical significance (RESULTS); and the principal conclusions drawn from the study (CONCLUSIONS)
  
• The title of the abstract should be printed in CAPITAL LETTERS; the name(s) of the author(s) should be preceded by the full first name (middle name Initial optional) - omit titles. There should be no more than 10 authors. Please be aware that rules set by EJCTS editorial office state that no more than 8 authors are allowed for a paper from a single Institution and no more than 10 authors for multi-Institutional studies.
• Since the abstracts will be judged anonymously, the text may not reveal the institutional affiliation
• Mark the category which best describes the subject of your abstract
• The material should not have been published or presented at any international meeting before

Abstracts will not be accepted by e-mail or fax.
All abstracts should be submitted and posted on this website according to the format and instructions described above no later than 31 January 2011

The programme committee will meet 11 - 12 March 2011. The best abstracts are selected based on the average score by the reviewers from 2 rounds and allocated for presentations as oral, forum, case report, video or poster. Abstract acceptance and programme scheduling will be communicated to the corresponding author’s e-mail address early April 2011.

For your abstract to be included in the final scientific programme, it is mandatory to register for the congress and to settle payment as soon as you have received the notification of abstract acceptance.

Abstracts will be published in a supplement of the Interactive Journal for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery.

IMPORTANT:
ESTS expects that all speakers presenting in ORAL sessions as well as all ESTS prize winners submit full manuscripts to the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EJCTS) for review one month after the meeting at the latest.
This ensures that the key proceedings from the congress are accurately recorded in the Society’s journal along with the ensuing discussion. Note that the Programme Committee will consider the previous manuscript submission record of ALL speakers when preparing future ESTS meetings.

Submission for review of forum, case report, video or poster presentations to either EJCTS or ICVTS is optional but welcomed.

Manuscripts should be prepared and submitted according to the Instructions to Authors (follow relevant link):

• EJCTS
• ICVTS

The manuscript submission is online only at: http://submit-ejcts.ctsnetjournals.org

Please mention “Presented at the 19th European Conference on General Thoracic Surgery of the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Marseille, 5 - 8 June 2011” on the title page of the manuscript.

ESTS requires that all speakers competing for the Brompton & Young Investigators Prizes sessions submit full manuscripts by e-mail to the Chair of the Programme Committee (sue@ests.org.uk) one month before the meeting at the latest, since these papers are included in the total scoring by the jury. ESTS strongly advises the authors to hold electronic submission to EJCTS until after their oral presentation and the ensuing discussion. This will help to improve the quality of their manuscript and increase the chance of being accepted for publication in EJCTS.

The audio-visual recording of the scientific presentations will be the property of the ESTS.

ORAL AND FORUM SESSIONS

Oral papers are allocated 8 minutes presentation time followed by a discussion period of 7 minutes. Forum papers are allocated a presentation time of 7 minutes followed by a discussion period of 3 minutes. Please note that only data projection will be available.

INTERACTIVE CASE PRESENTATION SESSION

The programme committee invites submissions of case reports for interactive presentation.
It is an opportunity for any thoracic surgeon, particularly trainees and young surgeons, to present a case for discussion by the meeting and the experts who will be present. We want you to submit cases that are of interest in any one of a number of ways:

• An uncommon clinical problem
• A particularly challenging problem of diagnosis or management
• An innovative operation or other solution
• A clinical lesson
• A particularly illustrative case of a more common problem

The interactive presentations should be 10 minutes long including interactive discussion. Video clips are welcome but must be included within the time limit. The speaker should present the clinical case only; NOT a literature review or case series.

We would like you to tell us in the abstract (300 words) what your case is about and what you think is of special interest. Tell us in your submission why you think your case should be on the programme. You should say what we might learn from the case, positive or negative clinical lessons, or what is exiting about it, and perhaps you have something new to say about clinical management or the operative surgery.

If your case is selected, expect to exchange some e-mails with the chairmen of the session to help you create a really good quality presentation to make yours a high impact presentation, attracting an interesting and instructive discussion.

POSTER SESSION

A number of abstracts will be selected for poster presentation.
Moderated posters are allocated 3 minutes presentation time followed by a discussion period of 2 minutes.
Maximum dimensions : Portrait: Length 120 cm, width 90 cm

VIDEO SESSION

Videos up to 30 MB can be uploaded online for scoring by reviewers. A copy of the Video should be sent to the ESTS Scientific Secretariat before Monday 28 February 2011 for review by the Programme Committee on the 12 March 2011. The film should be no longer than 7 minutes, in VHS-PAL or DVD format. Sound is acceptable but not necessary. However live narration by the principal surgeon is a requirement of participation. Videos will not be returned to presenters after the meeting unless specifically requested by the author in advance.

Please send your video on a CD/DVD by 28 February 2011 to: Sue Hesford, ESTS Scientific Secretariat, 1 The Quadrant, Wonford Road, Exeter, EX2 4LE, UK.