Welcome Address

 

Dear Members,
Dear Colleagues,
Dear Friends,

It is my great pleasure and honor to invite you to participate in the 5th International Congress of the iLDLT Group which will take place in Brussels October 15 (Friday) and 16 (Saturday), 2021. This event will be organized in collaboration with the Belgian Liver/Intestine Advisory Committee (Be-LIAC) of the Belgian Transplantation Society (BTS) and the Section of Hepato-biliopancreatic Surgery (BSHBPS) of the Royal Belgian Society for Surgery (RBSS).

This biennial meeting follows the very successful previous ones, which took place in Seoul (twice), Dallas and Kaohsiung. As the Western world still hesitates to embrace this therapeutic modality, the iLDLTG council found it opportune to "export" the congress to Europe.

The program focuses on the enormous technical advances have been made during the last two decades in this field of transplantation (indeed "versatility" is key to be successful) as well as on the cross-fertilization between living donor liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery. The sessions dedicated to advanced liver surgery (eg. in vivo and ex-vivo liver surgery), to the implementation of modern technologies (eg. laparoscopic and robotic liver surgery) and to hepatobiliary oncology (eg. which patient to resect, which to transplant) clearly illustrate this idea.

The congress indeed aims at capturing the interest of both transplant and non-transplant communities in order to foster progresses in the treatment of benign and malignant hepatobiliary diseases.

During this two day meeting, many of the world's most renowned, Western as well as Eastern, leaders in the fields of (living donor) liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery will raise the interest for and the scientific content of this meeting. An occasion not to miss!

The iLDLTG Council hopes to welcome many of you in October 2021 in Brussels, "the heart of Europe".

Please mark your calendar already now! Also kindly stimulate other surgical colleagues not only to attend, but also to actively participate in the meeting.

Very sincerely yours,

 

Prof. em. Jan Lerut Congress President

Prof. Chao-Long CHEN President of iLDLTG

 

 

Congress Description

This congress aims to give a comprehensive review and update about living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and advanced hepatobiliary surgery.

The congress banner 'Excellence through versatility' reflects the enormous evolution that have been made in the field of surgery, transplantation surgery and medicine since it's first applications in clinical practice by Professors R.STRONG(1989) and K.TANAKA (1990) and Professor M.MAKUUCHI (1990).

The 90's were the years of exploring technical and ethical feasibility ("nihil nocere") : "the allograft morphology and anatomy matter "

The 00's were the years of exploring functional boundaries by perfecting surgical skills and imaging ("small for size graft and syndrome") : "the allograft morphology and function matter";

The 10's were the years of exploring innovative surgical and immunologic techniques to enhance donor and recipient safety and to widen the clinical indications; " the donor's safety and quality of life matter"

The 20's will be the years of transplant oncology and minimal invasive donor surgery; "the donor's scar and aggression matter";

These evolutionary steps reveal that successful LDLT not only needs "excellence through innovation and integration" (this was the congress banner of the 4th ILDLT Congress in Kaohsiung, Taiwan) but also "versatility". How to cope with unforeseen, pre- or intra-operative, difficulties difficulties needs knowledge, experience and flexibility.

Without any doubt modern hepatobiliary surgery has taken profit from the "cross-fertilization" between liver surgery, living donor hepatectomy and liver transplantation. In order to optimize the treatment of liver diseased patients an interplay between liver surgeons and liver transplant surgeons must be developed in order to get acquainted with each others potentials. Liver resection and liver transplantation should not any longer been seen as competitors but as collaborators! For these reasons several sessions related to implementation of modern technology, to advanced liver surgery and to hepatobiliary oncology have been included in the program.

An international, transcontinental and both Eastern and Western, top-faculty will gather in Brussels to deal with almost all aspects, including the treatment of complications, of LDLT and advanced liver surgery.

 

 

Goals and Objectives

 

 

LEARNER OUTCOMES

 

 

Accreditation

EACCME and Belgian accreditation for categories 4 and 6 (Ethics) have been requested.

 

 

Endorsement

This congress is endorsed by the following learning societies or foundations.

 

Click here to learn more about the host city, Brussels, Belgium!