What is EACTS and what does the eacts.org website offer?

Updated

EACTS (the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery) is a professional association for the global cardiothoracic surgical community. Its stated purpose is to improve outcomes for patients with heart and lung conditions by supporting surgeons worldwide and informing best practice through education, learning opportunities, journals and publications, and research. The eacts.org website is the association's public hub: it is where you go to find its domain-specific content, consensus documents, courses and webinars, annual meeting information, and awards. It is most useful if you are a cardiothoracic surgeon, trainee, or allied professional looking for educational resources or community events rather than patient-facing information.

What EACTS says it does

The site describes the organisation's mission directly: supporting the global cardiothoracic surgical community and informing best practice with "first-class education, cutting-edge learning opportunities, world-renowned journals and publications and pioneering research." In practice, that translates into four visible activity streams on the site:

  • Education and courses — webinars, in-person courses, and skills-level-tagged learning events.
  • Publications — journals and expert consensus documents, some marked Open Access.
  • Research — referenced as part of the mission and reflected in published consensus work.
  • Community and meetings — the Annual Meeting and specialty summits.

The four clinical domains

The site organises much of its content by domain, each with its own description and entry point:

Domain What the site says it covers
Acquired Cardiac Disease Advanced surgical techniques and strategies across acquired cardiac surgery, plus prevalent issues faced by acquired cardiac surgeons
Congenital Heart Disease Advanced techniques and strategies across congenital heart surgery and issues faced by congenital surgeons
Thoracic Disease Advanced techniques and strategies across thoracic surgery and issues faced by thoracic surgeons
Aortic Disease Advanced techniques and strategies across vascular surgery and issues faced by vascular surgeons

If your interest is a specific subspecialty, these domain pages are the natural starting point before browsing courses or news.

What you can actually find on the site

News and new content

A "What's new" section collects recent items across the site — news pieces, journal articles, courses, and awards. Examples visible on the page include:

  • New EACTS Expert Consensus Documents (marked Open Access, dated 15 Oct 2026).
  • The Residents' Tutorial Competition award winner announcement (15 Oct 2026, linked to MMCTS).
  • Daily News from the 40th EACTS Annual Meeting (10 Oct 2026).

Events and courses

The site lists upcoming activities with dates, format, and location, for example:

  • Innovation Webinar 1: The future of robotic surgery — online, 20 Oct 2026, run by the EACTS Innovation Committee as part of a new webinar series on emerging ideas and technologies.
  • Thoracic Disease Webinar: Fundamentals of AI and showcasing solutions — online, 21 Oct 2026, run by the Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence Task Force; tagged Thoracic Disease, All Skills Levels.
  • A course in Rome, Italy — in person, 4–5 Nov 2026 (listing truncated on the page).
  • 10th EACTS Mechanical Circulatory Support Summit — featured as a headline item.

Each listing indicates format (online or in person) and, where relevant, skill level, so you can filter by what fits your schedule and experience.

The Annual Meeting

The site promotes the Annual Meeting as "the world's largest meeting of the cardiothoracic surgical community." The 41st edition is announced for 6–9 October 2027 in Berlin, under the theme "Break Barriers and build the future." The 40th Annual Meeting (2026) is referenced in the daily news items.

How to use the site

  1. Start with your domain if you have a subspecialty focus — the four domain pages summarise scope and link to relevant content.
  2. Check "What's new" for recent consensus documents, journal articles, and award announcements; Open Access items are labelled as such.
  3. Browse upcoming courses and webinars by date and format; online webinars suit remote attendance, while in-person courses list a city.
  4. Plan around the Annual Meeting if you want the largest gathering; the next announced edition is Berlin, October 2027.

Limits to keep in mind

The page does not state membership fees, registration prices, or whether content requires login, so treat access terms as something to confirm on the specific course or publication page rather than assuming anything is free or open. The site is aimed at the professional surgical community; it is not a patient information resource. Dates shown reflect the page as captured and should be re-checked before you plan travel or registration.