106th Annual Meeting May 2-5 2026; McCormick Place Lakeside Center | Chicago, IL, USA

Call for Abstracts

The Abstract and Case Video submission site is closed. Notifications will be sent in December 2025.

Waiver of mandatory manuscript submission for publication in JTCVS may be requested at the time of submission. The requirement for manuscript submission to the JTCVS does not apply to Abstracts for the C. Walton Lillehei Resident Forum, posters, or case videos.

Submission Guidelines

Submission Categories for Plenary and Simultaneous Sessions

Click on a category for more information.

Clinical and translational studies pertaining to the selection, treatment, and outcomes of patients with acquired cardiovascular conditions.

Sub-categories:
- Aorta and Great Vessels
- Aortic Valve
- Arrhythmia Surgery
- Basic and Translational Research
- Cardiac Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support
- Coronary Artery Disease
- Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy
- Infective Endocarditis
- Innovations: New devices or novel approaches, preclinical or clinical
- Mitral and Tricuspid Valve
- Other
Clinical and translational studies pertaining to the selection, treatment, and outcomes of patients with congenital disorders of the heart, lungs, and great vessels.

Sub-categories:
- Adult Congenital
- Aortic valve and aortic root surgery
- Atrioventricular valve (mitral/tricuspid) surgery
- Basic and Translational Research
- Congenital Coronary Anomalies
- Innovations: New devices or novel approaches, preclinical or clinical
- Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction
- Neonatal and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery
- Pulmonary valve intervention
- Pulmonary Vein Disease
- Complex Biventricular Repair
- Single Ventricle Management
- Transplant / Mechanical Support
- Other
Presentations that address perioperative evaluation and management including, but not limited to, all pre- and post-operative care and benchmarks of enhancing recovery after cardiac and thoracic surgery (ERAS); patient safety challenges; ECPR and ECMO circulatory management; evidence-based trials of critical care pathways; and ethical dilemmas such as failure to rescue and urgent perioperative revascularization.

Sub-categories:
- Critical Care (Cardiogenic Shock (non-MCS), All Post-operative Care)
- ECMO (VV-, VA-, E-CPR)
- ERAS Cardiac
- ERAS Thoracic
- Preoperative Risk Assessment
- Innovations: New devices or novel approaches, preclinical or clinical, AI, MLA
- Other
Clinical outcomes and/or translational research related to the diagnosis, natural history, patient selection, therapy or new innovation in the structural heart field and valvular surgery.

Sub-categories:
- Aortic Valve/TAVR
- Redo-THV (surgery, valve-in-valve, valve-in-ring)
- Mitral and Tricuspid
- Multi-Valve Disease
- Pulmonary Valve, Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion, and Other
- Basic and Translational Research
- Innovation: New devices or novel approaches, preclinical or clinical
Clinical and translational studies pertaining to the selection, treatment, and outcomes of patients with benign and malignant conditions of the lungs, airways, mediastinum, diaphragm, and chest wall.

Sub-categories:
- Airway Disease
- Basic and Translational Research
- Benign Esophageal Disease
- Chest Wall, Pleural and Mediastinal Disease
- End Stage Lung Disease and Lung Transplantation
- Esophageal Cancer
- Innovations: New devices or novel approaches, preclinical or clinical
- Lung Cancer
- Other Malignant Lung Disease
- Other
Sub-categories:
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Education
- Safety, Quality, and Teamwork
Limited to original work presented by residents in an accredited cardiothoracic surgery and/or residents in an accredited general surgical training programs who are working in a cardiothoracic surgical laboratory or clinical rotation in North America. This forum is designed primarily for Abstracts concerning basic science and laboratory animal experiments or translational research performed on tissue or blood obtained from patients. Training program directors are urged to have residents participate in the forum and must acknowledge that the material being presented is original work and that of the resident. Authors of selected Abstracts should plan to submit a manuscript four weeks prior to the meeting. Finalists will be graded on their Abstracts and presentations onsite at the Annual Meeting. Two presentations will be selected to receive an award of $1,500 each.