The 15th Annual Autumn Meeting of the British Society for Heart Failure entitled, “Heart failure, a multidisciplinary approach”, was held on 29-30 November 2012 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London

s of outstanding quality were presented at this year’s Young Investigators’ Award session. Dr Syed Ahsan (The Heart Hospital, London) studied the effects of multiple biventricular pacing configurations using a novel octapolar LV pacing electrode in an acute physiological study of patients referred for CRT. He showed that selection of pacing configuration on an individualised basis could improve LV haemodynamics, as measured invasively by LV dP/dtmax. In a large prospective study of more than 1000 patients, Dr Colette Jackson (University of Glasgow) investigated the prognostic significance of microvolt T-wave alternans (MTWA) testing in HF. This showed no difference in mortality if patients were stratified according to MTWA (either positive, negative or indeterminate) and concluded that MTWA testing is not a useful strategy to identify HF patients who may benefit from an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Finally, Dr Donah Zachariah (Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust) investigated the impact of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on secondary prevention therapy following primary percutaneous coronary intervention. In a retrospective, multicentre, UK study, she demonstrated that current prescribing rates of secondary prevention medication were high compared to historical data; however ACE inhibitor usage was significantly lower in patients with CKD. All the presentations were of a very high standard, with Dr Colette Jackson gaining the Young Investigators’ award. Abstracts from these three winning entries can be found at http://bjcardio.co.uk/2013/02 /british-society-of-heartfailure-young-investigatorsaward/. Dr Colette Jackson: