The 31st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Cardiovascular Intervention and Therapeutics (CVIT2023) is being held in the Kyushu/Okinawa area for the first time in eight years. The schedule is for three days, from August 4th (Friday) to 6th (Sunday) in the 5th year of the Reiwa era at the Fukuoka PayPay Dome + Hilton Sea Hawk Hotel. CVIT 2015 in the summer of that year was held under the leadership of President Takashi Ueno (Kurume University) at the Fukuoka Dome, attracting nearly 6,000 participants – a record high at the time. This challenging endeavor brought great impact to interventionalist clinicians as we continually challenge ourselves in the search for better treatments tomorrow over those practiced today.

  Eight years have passed since then, and the environment surrounding medical care has changed dramatically. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 has had a major impact on the holding of live demonstrations, research meetings, and academic conferences which have greatly contributed to the evolution of interventional therapies, forcing them to be canceled or postponed. Ironically, as a by-product, online live demonstrations, seminars, and academic conferences, which were thought to be difficult, including CVIT-TV, are now being held routinely, and allow learning procedures and acquiring knowledge without physically visiting the site. These represent very useful opportunities for young practitioners who are busy with daily clinical work, and are also attractive for hospital administrators, as it is beneficial for hospital management to keep physicians at the hospital.

  However, CVIT is an academic society that has developed with the passion of clinicians who aspire to cure diseases that cannot be cured today. It is CVIT that has brought attention to illness and responded by bringing interventional therapies closer to the patient than anyone else. We have continuously innovated to realize this goal. The innovation we aim for is to combine new approaches in different ways, and, to realize this, we have a history of moving forward through face-to-face heated discussions among clinicians with varying ideas. While it is possible to disseminate guidelines online, face-to-face interaction is essential for creating new evidence that will change the existing guidelines. Recognizing the necessity of this face-to-face approach, the value of heated discussion in what will be a hot summer at the Fukuoka Dome – from my heart and soul I wish to make a new beginning after years of corona.
  Following negotiation with Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Co., Ltd., and the Nippon Baseball Association we are able to hold the event. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all who have supported us. By all means, I would like all members to join us on site so that we may stir our souls together.
  The theme of this hot academic conference is Interventional SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Interventional therapeutics is now entering a period of great change. The environment surrounding PCI, which has been the at the core of interventional therapies, has evolved significantly, and EVT and SHD are developing as new areas of focus. In addition, the Basic Act on Measures against Stroke and Cardiovascular Disease was enacted; the major goals of this initiative are to reduce the age-adjusted mortality rate of stroke and cardiovascular disease by 5% within five years as well as to extend healthy life expectancy. We interventionalist practitioners must think about what we can do to achieve this goal and act accordingly. The idea behind the SDGs is not the eco-friendly meaning of the current trend, but the thinking at CVIT, which started 30 years ago, is to be conveyed to future generations, and to identify new development goals in order to make the field of intervention a sustainable one. Until now, the clinical approach has relied upon the use of stents, DES, and new antithrombotic drugs, with the development goals of acute coronary occlusion, restenosis, and thrombosis. I believe it is necessary to set new development goals such as valvular disease, sudden cardiac death, and aortic disease, and continue to take on challenges to address them. ACS (Vulnerable Plaque), CTO, advanced calcification, left main, CMD, CLTI, are just some of themes that must be consistently included in the SDGs. Innovation of medical devices is also essential to solving these SDGs, and the government is investing in this area as part of its basic policy.

  Fukuoka is said to be a hub of Asia and is expected to develop internationally. I believe that, in the coming decade, CVIT should not only foster exchanges with China, South Korea, and Singapore, but also interact with all of Asia, including education and guidance for Southeast Asian countries, and should be set as a new SDG development goal. Currently, we are planning 17 SDGs, and we are looking forward to reflecting on the past of interventional therapeutics with all members, to clarifying current issues, and to exploring additional development goals for the future through heated discussion.
  On the afternoon of the final day, which is a Sunday during the Japanese summer vacation, we will open the Dome to the general public and invited patients, who are, in a sense, the ultimate medical providers, to participate in the conference. We are planning to hold a general public lecture to help patients discover new SDGs.

  CVIT2023 is being held one year later than originally planned due to the spread of the coronavirus, however, the World Swimming Championships, which was scheduled to be held in Fukuoka at the same time, was also postponed, and will be held one week before the CVIT2023 session. I was relieved that the events will not be held simultaneously, however the conference will coincide with the Masters World Championships, which will be held after the World Championships. Fortunately, all medical conferences have been postponed, and the only events in Fukuoka at this time are CVIT2023 and Masters World Aquatics.
  It will be the first full-fledged face-to-face academic conference after Corona.
  I would like to partake on a deep dive together with the World Swimming Championships in the hot Fukuoka summer.
  To be involved in interventional cardiology, you must innovate. From my heart and soul, I eagerly await for you in Fukuoka.

The 31st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Cardiovascular Intervention and Therapeutics (CVIT2023)
Hiroyoshi Yokoi ,President
Fukuoka Sanno Hospital/Fukuoka International University of Health and Welfare

The 31st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Cardiovascular Intervention and Therapeutics (CVIT2023) is being held in the Kyushu/Okinawa area for the first time in eight years. The schedule is for three days, from August 4th (Friday) to 6th (Sunday) in the 5th year of the Reiwa era at the Fukuoka PayPay Dome + Hilton Sea Hawk Hotel. CVIT 2015 in the summer of that year was held under the leadership of President Takashi Ueno (Kurume University) at the Fukuoka Dome, attracting nearly 6,000 participants – a record high at the time. This challenging endeavor brought great impact to interventionalist clinicians as we continually challenge ourselves in the search for better treatments tomorrow over those practiced today.

  Eight years have passed since then, and the environment surrounding medical care has changed dramatically. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 has had a major impact on the holding of live demonstrations, research meetings, and academic conferences which have greatly contributed to the evolution of interventional therapies, forcing them to be canceled or postponed. Ironically, as a by-product, online live demonstrations, seminars, and academic conferences, which were thought to be difficult, including CVIT-TV, are now being held routinely, and allow learning procedures and acquiring knowledge without physically visiting the site. These represent very useful opportunities for young practitioners who are busy with daily clinical work, and are also attractive for hospital administrators, as it is beneficial for hospital management to keep physicians at the hospital.

  However, CVIT is an academic society that has developed with the passion of clinicians who aspire to cure diseases that cannot be cured today. It is CVIT that has brought attention to illness and responded by bringing interventional therapies closer to the patient than anyone else. We have continuously innovated to realize this goal. The innovation we aim for is to combine new approaches in different ways, and, to realize this, we have a history of moving forward through face-to-face heated discussions among clinicians with varying ideas. While it is possible to disseminate guidelines online, face-to-face interaction is essential for creating new evidence that will change the existing guidelines. Recognizing the necessity of this face-to-face approach, the value of heated discussion in what will be a hot summer at the Fukuoka Dome – from my heart and soul I wish to make a new beginning after years of corona.
  Following negotiation with Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Co., Ltd., and the Nippon Baseball Association we are able to hold the event. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all who have supported us. By all means, I would like all members to join us on site so that we may stir our souls together.
  The theme of this hot academic conference is Interventional SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Interventional therapeutics is now entering a period of great change. The environment surrounding PCI, which has been the at the core of interventional therapies, has evolved significantly, and EVT and SHD are developing as new areas of focus. In addition, the Basic Act on Measures against Stroke and Cardiovascular Disease was enacted; the major goals of this initiative are to reduce the age-adjusted mortality rate of stroke and cardiovascular disease by 5% within five years as well as to extend healthy life expectancy. We interventionalist practitioners must think about what we can do to achieve this goal and act accordingly. The idea behind the SDGs is not the eco-friendly meaning of the current trend, but the thinking at CVIT, which started 30 years ago, is to be conveyed to future generations, and to identify new development goals in order to make the field of intervention a sustainable one. Until now, the clinical approach has relied upon the use of stents, DES, and new antithrombotic drugs, with the development goals of acute coronary occlusion, restenosis, and thrombosis. I believe it is necessary to set new development goals such as valvular disease, sudden cardiac death, and aortic disease, and continue to take on challenges to address them. ACS (Vulnerable Plaque), CTO, advanced calcification, left main, CMD, CLTI, are just some of themes that must be consistently included in the SDGs. Innovation of medical devices is also essential to solving these SDGs, and the government is investing in this area as part of its basic policy.

  Fukuoka is said to be a hub of Asia and is expected to develop internationally. I believe that, in the coming decade, CVIT should not only foster exchanges with China, South Korea, and Singapore, but also interact with all of Asia, including education and guidance for Southeast Asian countries, and should be set as a new SDG development goal. Currently, we are planning 17 SDGs, and we are looking forward to reflecting on the past of interventional therapeutics with all members, to clarifying current issues, and to exploring additional development goals for the future through heated discussion.
  On the afternoon of the final day, which is a Sunday during the Japanese summer vacation, we will open the Dome to the general public and invited patients, who are, in a sense, the ultimate medical providers, to participate in the conference. We are planning to hold a general public lecture to help patients discover new SDGs.

  CVIT2023 is being held one year later than originally planned due to the spread of the coronavirus, however, the World Swimming Championships, which was scheduled to be held in Fukuoka at the same time, was also postponed, and will be held one week before the CVIT2023 session. I was relieved that the events will not be held simultaneously, however the conference will coincide with the Masters World Championships, which will be held after the World Championships. Fortunately, all medical conferences have been postponed, and the only events in Fukuoka at this time are CVIT2023 and Masters World Aquatics.
  It will be the first full-fledged face-to-face academic conference after Corona.
  I would like to partake on a deep dive together with the World Swimming Championships in the hot Fukuoka summer.
  To be involved in interventional cardiology, you must innovate. From my heart and soul, I eagerly await for you in Fukuoka.

The 31st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Cardiovascular Intervention and Therapeutics (CVIT2023)

Hiroyoshi Yokoi ,President
Fukuoka Sanno Hospital/Fukuoka International University of Health and Welfare