The mission of the Association is to advance education in the field of cardiac, thoracic and vascular interventions; and promote research into cardiovascular and thoracic physiology, pathology and therapy, with the aim to correlate and disseminate the results for the public benefit.

The European Association For Cardio-Thoracic Surgery was founded in 1986 as a European organisation devoted to the practice of cardio-thoracic surgery. Membership has now spread all over the world with 3000 active members including surgeons, perfusionists and allied health professionals.