Report on the 2nd Florence International Symposium on Advances in Cardiomyopathies: 9th meeting of the European Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases WG of the ESC

A bridge between clinical and basic science aiming at cross fertilization, with leading experts presenting alongside junior investigators, is the key feature of the “2nd Florence International Symposium on Advances in Cardiomyopathies” , 9th Meeting of the Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases Working Group of the European Society of Cardiology, which was held in Florence, Italy on 26---28th September 2012. Patients with cardiomyopathies, with an estimated 3 per thousand prevalence in the general population, constitute an increasingly large proportion of patients seen by most cardiologists. This class of diseases, which are mostly genetically determined with different transmission modalities, can cause important and often unsolved management problems, despite rapid advances in the field. On the other hand, few other areas of cardiology have seen such an impressive contribution from basic science and translational research to the understanding of their pathophysiology and clinical management. The course was designed to constantly promote close interaction between basic science and clinical practice and highlight the top scientific and translational discoveries in this field in 10 scientific sessions. It was preceded by two mini---courses, which included the basic concepts of cardiomyocyte mechanical and electrophysiological properties and mechanisms, how---to sessions for clinical diagnosis and management and illustrative case study presentations of different cardiomyopathies.