Washington, DC - It didn't last. Despite what leaders of both organizations are calling a "successful" marriage in 2008, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) announced today that they will be holding their annual meetings separately in 2009.

As previously reported by heartwire, the organizations had given themselves roughly one month following the joint 2008 sessions to canvas their respective memberships as to whether the SCAI meeting should continue to link with the ACC's i2 Summit.

The answer, it seems, is no.

In a joint statement released by the two societies, SCAI president Dr Bonnie H Weiner calls the 2008 ACC/i2 Summit-SCAI meeting "a strong achievement," particularly in raising "positive attention" for the interventional field.

But ultimately, she states: "SCAI's members are enthusiastic about a return to the intimacy of a meeting with a targeted focus on high-level interventional cardiology."

To heartwire, Weiner said that the decision to split was "absolutely" mutual and amicable.

"I think both groups would have liked to have seen this stay together, but I think there were clearly reasons on both sides, from an organizational standpoint, where we couldn't come to an agreement that made sense to us for 2009," she said. "But we clearly left the door open for continuing discussions about possible future partnerships."

Likewise, ACC president Dr W Douglas Weaver said he hoped there might be a reunion in the future and hinted that the pressure to split did not come from the ACC. "We thought that this year's meeting was outstanding from many aspects, particularly attendance levels and the cross talk between general cardiology and interventional cardiology. We thought this was win-win for both organizations, so I am a bit disappointed, but I also understand that there were some educational needs that the two organizations differ on, or at least our perceptions differ on."

And Dr Mark Turco (Washington Adventist Hospital, Tacoma Park, MD), a SCAI board trustee who spoke with heartwire earlier this month when the decision was still up in the air, gently observed: "The ACC may have wanted to stay together, but they wanted to stay together on their particular terms. There needs to be some element of give and take, and there are certain things that the SCAI and its members felt strongly about."

As previously reported by heartwire, corporate funding was at least one of the driving forces behind the 2008 marriage, after companies that regularly give educational grants to both societies and rent exhibition space complained that it was difficult to do so for two interventional meetings held so close together. Spokespeople for both organizations have insisted to heartwire that this was not one of the driving forces behind the 2008 marriage, nor did it have an impact on the decision announced today.

Weiner said that SCAI will once again be reaching out to the four big device companies, as well as other industry partners, when the meeting date and venue are finalized, something it hopes to announce in the coming weeks. "Once we know exactly when and what the program is going to look like, we will be approaching the companies, as we always do, for educational support. Hopefully they will support the activity, but we have no preconceived relationships to know what that's going to represent." She added that she has been given "no indication" that industry would not be able to support the SCAI meeting.

Weaver, likewise, said that the i2 Summit will not be dependent on industry funding, and there is no intention to scale back the i2 program in any way. In recent years, he said, educational support from industry has been down, forcing meeting organizers to depend more heavily on "efficiencies and attendance" to cover meeting costs.

"I think the companies would prefer to have us working together, but they also probably understand that it isn't going to work next year. What they'll do is unclear to me," Weaver said. As for 2009, he added, "We'll make i2 a success next year, and funding won't make or break it."

In a statement to heartwire, AdvaMed, the trade group representing the major device companies, also used the word "disappointed" in reference to the ACC and SCAI decision not to partner next year. "While many felt a combined meeting offered the potential to meet the specific scientific and educational needs of interventional and general cardiologists, our member companies recognize the independence of the two societies and respect their judgment on how to best serve their members," the statement reads. "The member companies of the Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Task Force will each review the proposals for the meetings and make independent decisions about their support for next year's sessions."

The ACC meeting and i2 Summit is already set for March 28-31, 2009 in Orlando, FL; the SCAI has not yet finalized the location and dates for 2009. According to Turco, the SCAI is also discussing what changes, if any, it might make to its format. One idea being floated is whether to include late-breaking clinical-trial sessions, something the meeting had not offered until it hooked up with the i2 Summit.

"We're going to continue to grow the SCAI meeting to the point where people, we hope, will want to present late-breaking clinical trials at our meeting," Turco said.

A poll on theheart.org suggests cardiologists were clearly divided on the issue. Out of 270 respondents, 57% voted in favor of a combined meeting in future years; the remaining 43% were against it.

"Was this the right decision, to split?" Turco asked heartwire. "I guess we'll find out next year."