As longer life expectancy and younger patient populations reshape cardiac surgery, clinical decisions are increasingly made with decades in mind.
Against this backdrop, Edwards Lifesciences, the leading global structural heart innovation company, convened more than 120 leading cardiac surgeons from 10 countries across Asia-Pacific at the RESILIA Summit 2026 in Bangkok, to help shape the next phase of cardiac surgical care.
“The RESILIA Summit is more than a scientific meeting. It brings together the clinical community across Asia-Pacific to exchange perspectives and to advance dialogue on long-term patient care,” said Amit Raheja, Senior Vice President for Asia-Pacific Edwards Lifesciences. “We see it as a privilege and responsibility to provide a platform where surgeons can share experiences and explore how evidence can inform clinical practice.”
Building on the momentum of the RESILIA Summit 2025 in India, the 2026 Summit marked another milestone in Edwards Lifesciences’ ongoing commitment to supporting regional clinical education and collaboration. The forum, themed Raising the Bar in Cardiac Surgery, also recognised a decade of RESILIA™ tissue durability and the growing focus on long-term outcomes and lifetime valve management across the region.
Over two intensive days, discussions centered on three pillars: durability as a foundation of lifetime valve management, surgical techniques that preserve future treatment options, and decision-making across the full disease continuum. Sessions covered both aortic and mitral valve diseases and highlighted how regional practice is evolving in response to increasingly complex patient profiles.
Long-Term Evidence Reshaping Surgical Decision-Making
A key focus of the Summit was 10-year data from the COMMENCE trial, together with real-world experience from the MOMENTIS programme. Discussions explored how long-term evidence may contribute to first valve choice and procedural strategy, particularly for younger patients who may require ongoing management over their lifetime.
When Long-Term Evidence Meets Real-Life Outcomes
Discussions across the Summit highlighted how long-term clinical evidence is increasingly shaping surgical decision-making, particularly as patients live longer and therefore face the potential of reintervention over a lifetime.
Data from the 10-year COMMENCE trial demonstrate favourable durability outcomes for patients treated with Edwards’ surgical valves featuring RESILIA™ tissue over time. Faculty discussions also highlighted how such long-term evidence can help inform surgical decision-making, supporting a more considered and forward-looking approach to lifetime patient management.
“What we are seeing across the region is a fundamental shift in how surgeons think about lifetime management of patients,” said Prof. Dato’ Seri Dr Jeffrey Jeswant Dillon, Senior Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at IJN, Malaysia. “Durability is a starting point and critical to decision making. Forums like this are where that mindset spreads.
A Legacy of Partnership and Innovation
For more than six decades, Edwards Lifesciences has partnered with physicians to advance care for patients with structural hearts disease through innovation. The RESILIA Summit 2026 reaffirmed the company’s commitment to fostering regional collaboration, advancing evidence-based practice and supporting better long-term outcomes for patients across Asia-Pacific.
“The RESILIA Summit 2026 has been an exceptional opportunity to engage directly with some of the leading minds in cardiology and cardiac surgery across Asia-Pacific,” said Dr. Andrew Newcomb, Director of Royal Melbourne Hospital, “Bringing together this level of clinical expertise creates a powerful environment where experience, scientific evidence, and surgical innovation can be shared and translated into meaningful improvements in patient care.”
