The EndoBELVIS International Symposium 2026 was held on 5 June 2026 in Belgrade, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, organized by the Serbian Society for Cardiovascular Surgery.
The event brought together more than 100 physicians, primarily cardiovascular surgeons and anesthesiologists, and was dedicated to endoscopic and minimally invasive heart valve surgery.
The first part of the programme was dedicated to cardiac surgery and was marked by two live surgeries, performed and broadcast directly from two leading healthcare institutions in Serbia.
The first surgery was performed at the University Clinical Centre of Serbia. It was an endoscopic mitral valve repair performed by Dr Miloš Matković, with expert support from Dr Antonios Pitsis from the Interbalkan Medical Center in Thessaloniki.
The second surgery was performed at the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases “Dedinje”. It was an endoscopic aortic valve replacement performed by Dr Bogdan Okiljević, with expert support from Dr Marco Solinas from Ospedale del Cuore, Fondazione Toscana, Italy.
During the live surgery broadcasts, Prof. Dr Svetozar Putnik, Prof. Dr Slobodan Mićović, Dr Ivan Stojanović, Prof. Dr Lazar Velicki, Prof. Dr Andreas Zierer, Dr Emilija Petrović and Prof. Dr Nermir Granov took part in the discussion and expert moderation of the programme. This part of the programme enabled participants to follow the most important technical, organizational and clinical aspects of endoscopic valve surgery through live surgical broadcasts and discussion with experts.
Within the first expert session, dedicated to the development of minimally invasive valve surgery, lectures were delivered by Dr Milan Milojević, Prof. Dr Slobodan Mićović, Prof. Dr Lazar Velicki, Prof. Dr Svetozar Putnik, Prof. Dr Andreas Zierer and Prof. Dr Nermir Granov. They spoke about contemporary guidelines, the development of endoscopic cardiac surgery, endoscopic aortic valve replacement, endoscopic mitral valve repair, reoperations and new solutions in minimally invasive procedures.
Following the live surgery segment of the programme, a practical workshop dedicated to endoscopic mitral valve repair using the Mi-Chord® system was held. The workshop trainers were Dr Ivan Stojanović, Prof. Dr Svetozar Putnik and Prof. Dr Nermir Granov.
The afternoon part of the conference was dedicated to anesthesia in minimally invasive valve surgery. The moderators of this session were Prof. Dr Dejan Marković and Prof. Dr Dragana Unić Stojanović, while lectures were delivered by Prof. Dr Dragana Unić Stojanović, Dr Vladimir Tutus, Dr Selena Nesić, Dr Velimir Perić and Prof. Dr Dejan Marković. The topics covered anesthesia in minimally invasive mitral valve surgery, unilateral pulmonary edema after minimally invasive cardiac surgery, the ERAS protocol, regional anesthesia techniques and opioid-free anesthesia.
The conference was also significant for its international reach. In addition to more than 100 physicians present in Belgrade, the programme was streamed live online. In cooperation with the Docartist.com platform, the lectures and surgeries were followed by more than one hundred physicians in the People’s Republic of China.
In this way, EndoBELVIS became not only an expert meeting held in Belgrade, but also an important international educational platform for the exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of endoscopic and minimally invasive cardiac surgery.
The recording of the symposium is available on our YouTube channel.
