Dear Colleagues,

It gives me great pleasure to add my welcome to the 20th World Congress of the World Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Dr. Cherian and his colleagues have organized an outstanding meeting in Chennai. The conference will bring together current knowledge and future promise in all fields of cardiothoracic surgery and related disciplines.

The meeting is timely. The techniques and applications of cardiothoracic surgery are rapidly changing, as is our understanding of how best to progress in merging our expertise with allied fields so as to produce optimal results for our patients.

We all have a lot to learn from each other, and the World Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery remains the only International Society. The Society thus provides the only forum where ideas and progress can be presented from all parts of the world, without geographical bias. It combines recent experience in both clinical medicine and research, and landmark papers are given by established experts in the field, whilst divulging new and fresh experience from many parts of the world.

The Society was started 20 years ago by the important pioneers in the field, and meetings rotate between Europe, North America, Asia and South America. The 2011 meeting will be held in Berlin, and the 2012 meeting in Vancouver.

Thank you for your support of the 20th annual meeting in India. Please join us all in making this an unforgettable conference, and continuing to validate the World Society as the most important forum for the exchange of current and future techniques from all over the world.

I look forward to meeting you in historic Chennai.

Thank you
Dr Stuart Jamieson
Chancellor,
World Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons.