he Scientific Advisory Committee selected 1,901 abstracts for presentation at the ASA 2007 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, an increase of 9 percent from 2006. This year, abstracts from all scientific and clinical subspecialty categories will be presented from Saturday through Wednesday morning in Moscone Center. A total of 21 oral computer-slide-assisted presentation sessions, 46 moderated poster-discussion sessions and 69 poster sessions will be offered. Each session is arranged by subject matter, and knowledgeable experts will facilitate all scientific abstract presentations.

Oral presentation sessions consist of six abstracts per session with 10 minutes for oral slide-assisted presentations followed by five minutes of moderated audience questions. Poster-discussion sessions consist of eight abstracts each and last 90 minutes. In the first 30 minutes, attendees can review and discuss the posters with the authors; this will be followed by a short presentation of each abstract and a moderated question-and-answer period. Oral sessions will be held in Moscone South rooms 301 and 302, and poster-discussion sessions will be in Moscone North 120-121 and 123-124 as well as Moscone South 270, 272, 274 and 276. Participation by attendees is encouraged at all sessions.

All other poster sessions will occur in Hall D in Moscone North, where expert discussants will visit each poster to review the findings with the presenting author and attendees during the two-hour assigned time. Presenting authors will be at their poster during the two-hour viewing time, and the posters themselves will remain available for the entire day.

The fourth annual Resident Research Forum will take place on Saturday, October 13, from 12:30-2:30 p.m. in Hall D in Moscone North. The Resident Research Forum is an exciting opportunity for residents to present their posters in a forum of peers, to meet other residents actively involved in research activities and to exchange ideas with some of the leaders in academic anesthesiology. The residents also will present their posters at their regularly scheduled scientific sessions.

Annual Meeting Subcommittees and Abstract Selection
All abstracts were submitted and graded electronically by the 17 scientific papers subcommittees using a Web-based process coordinated by Marathon Multimedia. Based upon the evaluation of the subcommittees, 80 percent of the 2,376 abstract submissions (received from 51 countries) were accepted and grouped into sessions containing presentations on similar topics. The scientific subcommittee topic areas and chairs are listed on page 25. ASA sincerely appreciates the dedicated efforts of all 206 subcommittee members who have volunteered substantial time and expertise to the selection and presentation of the Annual Meeting abstracts. Although space precludes presentation of their names in this article, the subcommittee members will be listed in the front of the 2007 Annual Meeting program book.

The number of oral, poster-discussion and poster sessions was based on the available space and abstract review scores. The accepted abstracts were grouped into sessions on similar topics by the subcommittee chairs, and the Scientific Advisory Committee chair determined the final scientific paper assignments and schedule. Efforts were made to avoid conflicts with other scheduled sessions on a given subject, but for some clinical specialties that are widely represented across the Annual Meeting schedule, it was not possible to avoid overlap with all other sessions on the same topic.

All abstracts will be included on a CD-ROM that will be distributed with the September issue of Anesthesiology. Abstracts from the past five years also will be on the CD-ROM, and they will be indexed and searchable by author and topic. The abstracts will be available on the ASA and Anesthesiology Web sites as well. Kiosks in Moscone Center will be available for downloading and printing abstracts.

Special Scientific Symposia
The Journal Symposium, organized by the editors of Anesthesiology, will be presented on Tuesday, October 16, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Moscone South Gateway Ballroom 102. The symposium will include lectures and discussion of abstracts related to influences on diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndromes. David O. Warner, M.D., will moderate.

The Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology/Anesthesiology special session will be presented on Monday, October 15, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Moscone North room 120. Gurinder M. Vasdev, M.D., Barbara L. Leighton, M.D., and Richard M. Smiley, M.D., Ph.D., will moderate the session. Six abstracts will be presented with a lively discussion expected.

The American Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists/Anesthesiology special scientific abstract session will be held on Monday, October 15, in Moscone North room 120. Scheduled from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., eight specially chosen abstracts on cutting-edge topics related to critical care will be presented and discussed.

Join Us!
The Scientific Advisory Committee believes you will find this year’s scientific paper presentations to be valuable and easily accessible. They cover the breadth of basic science and clinical topics in anesthesiology, addressing your research and your practice interests. Come, exchange ideas and benefit from these tremendous educational opportunities.

Beverly K. Philip, M.D., is Professor of Anaesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Director, Day Surgery Unit, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.