Abstract

Hic Sunt Leones. This Latin saying (here are the lions) indicated the borders of the Roman empire and warned civilians that unexplored and possibly dangerous territories are ahead. This unexplored territory is the application of mechanical support to the less sick heart failure patients (NYHA Class 3). In order to reach more patients and to sustain growth in this field mechanical support has to address the challenge of NYHA Class 3 patients. The GRC and GRS meeting on Assisted Circulation 2019 take this theme to explore what the is ahead of us in the exciting field of mechanical support and will address this question throughout each session. The 2019 GRC is a 5-day conference with the specific goal to present the contemporary and preliminary observations in this field and to build the future. In 9 major scientific sessions the limitations of the current technology and a vision on how the future can and should be formed will be explored. Each session is focused on specific problems or opportunities like myocardial recovery, blood damage, implantability etc… The sessions will be populated with internationally recognized speakers but the core of the meeting is the highly interactive and informal format.