The 2026 annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is just one month away. Set for August 28 through August 31 in Munich, Germany, the ESC Congress 2026 brings together cardiologists from around the world for the event’s four-day experience. Attendees can choose to register to attend in-person, or opt for an online attendance package that includes live key sessions, English-subtitled sessions on demand, Cardiac Societies sessions, access to all abstracts and clinical cases, CME accreditation, and opportunities to discuss and interact with peers.

Today, we are taking a look at ESC Congress 2026 sessions focusing on guideline-related topics. All times and dates are current as of July 27, 2026. For the complete look at all sessions currently scheduled, view the official ESC Congress 2026 program.

Guideline Sessions at ESC Congress 2026

Friday, August 28

  • 2026 ESC Guidelines and Document Overview
    • 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM
    • Description: This session is set to discuss the 2026 ESC guidelines on the management of heart failure, management of cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease, the universal definition of myocardial infarction, and cardiac rehabilitation. 
  • Clinical Cases of Managing Chronic Coronary Syndromes According to the Guidelines
    • 8:15 AM – 9:15 AM
    • Description: Topics set to be discussed during this session include when angiography is misleading, individualized escalation of verapamil therapy in refractory vasospastic angina guided by coronary function testing, and more.
  • What’s New in Dyslipidaemia Management?
    • 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM
    • Description: A portion of this session is set to discuss what’s new in the 2025 Focused Update of the 2019 ESC/EAS Guidelines for the Management of Dyslipidaemias. 
  • Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines in Practice
    • 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
    • Description: Topics in this session include continuing anticoagulation despite incidental peri-graft haematoma after coronary bypass, refractory atrial fibrillation in thyroid storm causing severe tachycardiomyopathy, and more.
  • The Floor is Yours: Bring Your Questions on Optimising Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy in Heart Failure
    • 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
    • Description: This session allows attendees to hear from experts on how they optimize guideline-directed medical therapy for heart failure patients. 
  • Management of Aortic Valve Disease: From Guidelines to Cases
    • 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
    • Description: This session features topics including TAVI in a young patient with bicuspid aortic stenosis and severe biventricular dysfunction, stroke in patient after transcatheter aortic valve implantation attributed to valve thrombosis, and more.
  • Recommendations and Implementation of the 2025 ESC EACTS Guidelines for the Management of Valvular Heart Disease 
    • 12:45 PM – 1:30 PM
    • Description: Two cases are set to be presented during this session, one each on the Irish and United Kingdom perspectives of valvular heart disease diagnostic methods and treatment strategies. 
  • 2026 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Heart Failure
    • 1:45 PM to 3:00 PM
    • Description: No description was provided for this event. 
  • Key Messages for Imaging from the Current ESC Guidelines
    • 1:45 PM – 3:00 PM
    • Description: This session will include discussions on the ESC guideline Management of Myocarditis and Pericarditis, the 2025 Focused Update of the 2019 ESC/EAS Guidelines for the Management of Dyslipidaemias, and more.
  • Tackling Hypertension According to the Guidelines Through Illustrative Cases
    • 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
    • Description: Topics set to be discussed include primary hyperaldosteronism, critical abdominal aortic stenosis, gestational hypertension, and others.
  • Advanced Heart Failure Guidelines Illustrated Through Challenging Cases
    • 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM
    • Description: This session will focus on case presentations including the use of combined mechanical circulatory supports in complex management of cancer therapy-related cardiogenic shock, cardiogenic shock due to acute myocardial infarction in the setting of severe hypothyroidism, and more.
  • 2026 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Heart Failure: Ask the Task Force
    • 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM
    • Description: No description was provided.
  • Focused Update on Heart Failure Management: Perspectives from Spain and Mexico
    • 4:45 PM – 5:30 PM
    • Description: This session will focus on identifying strategies to improve heart failure outcomes through guideline-directed therapy, guideline implementation discussions, and more.

Saturday, August 29

  • Guideline Management of Acute Coronary Syndrome: Illustrative Cases
    • 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
    • Description: Topics set to be discussed during this session include navigating massive thrombus in a non-atherosclerotic STEMI, concomitant microvascular and vasospastic angina in MINOCA, and more. 
  • Bradycardia and Pacemaker Guidelines in Action
    • 10:45 AM – 11:45 AM
    • Description: This session features discussions on atrial overdrive pacing as a novel strategy for recurrent ventricular ectopy induced left ventricular dysfunction, incidental smartwatch detection of asymptomatic bradycardia revealing isolated left isomerism with interrupted inferior vena cava, and more.
  • Guidelines in Practice: 2026 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Heart Failure
    • 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
    • Description: No description was provided. 
  • Complications of Acute Coronary Syndromes and Percutaneous Cornary Intervention: Cases Managed According to the Guidelines
    • 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
    • Description: This session is set to discuss imaging guided diagnosis and management of a left ventricular pseudoaneurysm, post-myocardial infarction ventricular septal defect, and more. 
  • Guideline Management of Dyslipaemia: Cases in Context
    • 1:15 PM – 2:15 PM
    • Description: Attendees will learn from experts on topics including strategy for dyslipidaemia management in an elderly patient with polyvascular atherosclerosis and extreme cardiovascular risk, management of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia in a statin-intolerant, inclisiran non-responder patient, and more. 
  • 2026 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Cardiovascular Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease
    • 1:45 PM – 3:00 PM
    • Description: No description was provided. 
  • Tackling Pericardial Disease: Cases According to the Guidelines
    • 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM
    • Description: This session features topics including a rare presentation of pneumopericardium, a rare case of primary pericardial mesothelioma acutely presenting as cardiac tamponade, and more. 
  • 2026 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Cardiovascular Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease: Ask the Task Force
    • 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM
    • Description: No description was provided. 
  • Guidelines in Practice: ESC Guidelines for the Management of Atrial Fibrillation
    • 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM
    • Description: This session features topics that include a patient perspective on living with atrial fibrillation, a case presentation on a 55-year-old patient with obesity who was diagnosed with HFrEF and persistent atrial fibrillation, and more. 
  • From Referral to Intervention for Aortic Stenosis: Implementation of the 2025 ESC Recommendations for Younger and Asymptomatic Patients
    • 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM
    • Description: This session discusses guidelines in practice, a case of an asymptomatic 70-year-old female with severe aortic stenosis, and more. 
  • Guidelines in Practice: 2026 ESC Guidelines for the MAnagement of Cardiovascular Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease
    • 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM
    • Description: No description provided. 

Sunday, August 30

  • Illustrative Cases of Guideline-Directed Acute Coronary Syndromes Management
    • 10:45 AM – 11:45 AM
    • Description: This session covers topics including IVUS-guided strategy for ostial right coronary SCAD, persistent troponin elevation in a young athlete with normal cardiac imaging, and more. 
  • Cases Outlining Guidelines-Directed Management of Sports and Cardiovascular Disease
    • 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
    • Description: Attendees will hear from experts on topics including the evaluation of chest pain in an elite rugby player, long-RP tachycardia in a professional cyclist, and others. 
  • Cardiac Amyloid Cases: Illustrating the Guidelines
    • 1:15 PM – 2:15 PM
    • Description: This session is set to discuss imaging in hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis, transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, a misdiagnosis of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis, and more.
  • Guidelines on Pulmonary Emboli, Illustration Through Clinical Cases
    • 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
    • Description: Topics set for discussion include the sudden onset of unilateral arm swelling in a healthy young man, multimodal management of high-risk pulmonary embolism complicated by paradoxical cerebellar embolism, and more. 
  • Implementation of ESC Guidelines in Real-World Practice: Bridging Gaps Across Cardiovascular Disease Domains in Latin America
    • 3:15 PM – 4:00 PM
    • Description: The session will address the challenges of implementing ESC guidelines in real-world clinical practice across Latin America, highlighting the significant gaps between clear recommendations and daily practice due to access limitations, patient-related factors, and more.
  • Ventricular Arrhythmias: Application of Guidelines to Real-World Cases
    • 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM
    • Description: This session focuses on topics including familial idiopathic ventricular fibrillation, exercise induced syncope in a middle-aged female athlete, recurrent PVC-triggered torsades de pointes after seizure-like presentation, and more.
  • Adult Congenital Heart Disease Guidelines, Applied Through Cases
    • 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
    • Description: This session features discussions on complex percutaneous optimisation of Fontan circulation, a late diagnosis of congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries in situs inversus totalis, and more. 
  • Guidelines in Practice: 5th Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction (ESC, ACC, AHA, and WHF)
    • 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
    • Description: No description provided. 
  • Guidelines in Practice: Aortic Dissection
    • 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
    • Description: Topics in this session include discussion on what guidelines say about type B aortic dissection, and how to implement the guideline recommendations with take-home messages at the end.
  • Guidelines in Practice:Aortic Stenosis with Significant Coronary Artery Disease
    • 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
    • Description: This session will apply current guideline recommendations to the assessment and treatment of patients with aortic stenosis and significant coronary artery disease. 

Monday, August 31

  • Clinical Cases of Guideline-Directed Therapy for Tricuspid and Mitral Valve Disease
    • 8:15 AM – 9:15 AM
    • Description: This session is set to discuss multimodality treatment of HFrEF, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction after mechanical mitral valve replacement, unexplained hypoxemia in carcinoid heart disease, and more.
  • Aortic Disease: Guidelines Illustrated Through Cases
    • 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
    • Description: Topics of discussion during this session include type A aortic dissection at subthreshold dimensions in loeys-dietz syndrome, severe and persistent abdominal pain developing early after endovascular treatment of an aortic aneurysm, and more. 
  • 2026 ESC Guidelines on Cardiac Rehabilitation
    • 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM
    • Description: No description provided. 
  • 2026 ESC Guidelines on Cardiac Rehabilitation: Ask the Task Force
    • 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
    • Description: No description provided. 
  • Guidelines in Practice: 2026 ESC Guidelines on Cardiac Rehabilitation
    • 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM
    • Description: No description provided.
  • Guidelines in Practice: Management of Secondary Mitral Regurgitation
    • 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM
    • Description: Attendees will learn what the latest guidelines have to say about secondary mitral regurgitation, how to implement the guidelines into practice, and the session will end with key take-home messages.
  • Implementation of the 2023 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Diabetes
    • 2:45 PM – 3:30 PM
    • Description: This session will translate the ESC guideline recommendations into practical, real-world management of patients with type 2 diabetes and high, or very-high, cardiovascular risk, including discussion on cardioprotective glucose-lowering therapies.

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