While the Arizona sun beats down on the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix at the end of this month, hundreds of leading otolaryngologists will be indoors sharing and learning about new developments in both basic and clinical research. This year, members of six societies, along with international guests, are meeting at the Combined Otolaryngological Spring Meeting (COSM) for four days. Here, ENT Today provides a preview of some of the meeting’s highlights.
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May 2009American Broncho-Esophagological Association (ABEA)
Exciting topics are lined up for sessions in the ABEA section, according to the ABEA’s Program Chair, Dana M. Thompson, MD. For one, there will be a talk from the UK’s Martin Birchall, MD, who was senior author of a pivotal paper on the first stem cell tracheal transplantation in a patient. Dr. Birchall will speak to attendees about the transplant and progress one year later. Adding to the stem cell theme, there will also be two sessions devoted to tissue engineering, first of the larynx and second of the trachea.
The roles of vagal nerve function and dysfunction in laryngotracheal and bronchoesophagologic disease are topics that will also be addressed at the conference. A scientific session and a keynote speaker will be devoted to this rapidly evolving topic.
In total, 37 podium presentations and 33 poster presentations are scheduled for the meeting.
American Head and Neck Society (AHNS)
This year’s AHNS program will showcase the latest advances in head and neck surgery. The program features 45 oral presentations and 119 posters representing the very best of head and neck cancer clinical and translational research, as well as expert opinions by leaders in the field, according to Christine G. Gourin, MD, this year’s AHNS Program Chair.
Highlights include three controversial and emerging areas impacting head and neck surgery practice. The emerging application of robotic technology to head and neck cancer surgery is the topic of Robotic Surgery: Fad or the Future?, a panel showcasing robotic transoral resection of oropharyngeal malignancy, robotic laryngectomy, robotic thyroidectomy, and robotic free flap reconstruction. The controversial topic of endoscopic skull base surgery for malignancy is the focus of this year’s Jatin Shah Symposium, moderated by Dennis Kraus, MD.
Finally, the increasing pressure by external forces to implement quality measures into clinical practice is the focus of a panel of experts who will discuss the challenges to incorporating quality measures in head and neck surgery practice, and will also be discussed by Gerald Healy, MD, Otolaryngologist-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital, Boston, in the keynote lecture, Challenges to Surgery and Our Profession.
The American Head and Neck Society annual meeting at COSM is the most important meeting of the year for head and neck surgery practitioners. The focus of this year’s meeting on what is new, what is controversial, and what is coming set this meeting apart and will be of interest to all otolaryngologists. In addition, the emphasis at this year’s AHNS meeting of our role as educators and providers in this era of globalization is timely and relevant, said Dr. Gourin.
American Laryngological Association (ALA)
With 30 oral presentations, ALA attendees will have a chance to hear the latest updates in laryngological research-both basic and clinical. Topics will include vocal fold paralysis, vocal fold wound healing, new technology such as laryngeal pacing, the latest update on laryngeal transplantation, and more, said ALA President Roger L. Crumley, MD, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery at University of California, Irvine.
Some of the highlights include six papers on unilateral vocal fold motion impairment, which promise to give new insights into management of the condition, plus a special section on bilateral vocal fold motion impairment. The latter will feature a state-of-the-art lecture by Jean-Paul Marie, MD, from Rouen University in France, on Human Bilateral Laryngeal Reinnervation, Implications for Transplantation. There will also be a panel discussion that promises to be lively and thought-provoking. This will be perhaps the most ground-breaking aspect of the program, Dr. Crumley said.
A must-see will be the Daniel Baker Lecture, to be given by Lawrence Krames, MD, with the intriguing title of DaVinci, Netter, Rockwell, ENT… and Me. For those interested in population findings on vocal issues, there will be a paper looking at epidemiological findings of the voice and dysphonia in performers. Of interest, especially to researchers, is a talk by Gordon Hughes, MD, on new funding opportunities at the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).
There will also be a presentation and update on the world’s first successful laryngeal transplant and what the findings are at 10 years. In addition, the ALA has designed its program to allow for greater emphasis on discussion times to allow for more audience interaction with speakers.
American Neurotology Society (ANS)
This year’s ANS scientific sessions will include the latest medical research for tinnitus treatment options, as well as numerous other hot topics. Among the highlights are talks on blast injury and how it affects balance, comparing the accuracy of bedside vestibular tests to video nystagmography, breakthrough cochlear implant findings, and more.
Don’t miss the William F. House Lecture, The Future of Innovation and Discovery in Neurotology, presented by Lloyd B. Minor, MD, from Johns Hopkins University. There will also be an outstanding panel on current concepts in tinnitus management. The panel will be led by Carol A. Bauer, MD, from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, and will consist of a team of well-known experts in tinnitus research-both basic and clinical.
There are two recipients of the Neurotology Fellow Award, who will each give a talk pertaining to their research. Kevin D. Brown, MD, from Iowa, will present Bridging the Divide-Schwann Cell Potentiated Spiral Ganglia Neurite Growth. Jerry W. Lin, MD, from New York, will present Characteristics of Channel Faults in Failed Cochlear Implants. The Trainee Award will be awarded to Hideko Heidi Nakajima, MD, from Boston, for her presentation Experimental Evaluation of Round Window Stimulation Using the Floating Mass Transducer.
American Otological Society (AOS)
Joseph B. Nadol, Jr., MD, President of the AOS, tells ENT Today that there will be lots to choose from in the AOS program. With 24 selected free papers, two panels, and two invited basic science lecturers, attendees will certainly keep busy.
An important theme that will run through this year’s AOS meeting will be emerging nonsurgical management protocols for otologic disease, said Dr. Nadol. He added that the Program Advisory Committee has identified several areas where there are professional practice gaps, and has attempted to address these gaps in the sessions.
The selected papers, panels, and lecturers [were chosen] in an effort to provide a deeper understanding of advances in otology and neurotology currently and in the future, both in surgical and nonsurgical treatments, including management protocols, implantable devices, and diagnosis and management of vestibular disorders. I am sure it will be an exciting and highly educational meeting for members and guests, he said.
The guest of honor, Robert J. Ruben, MD, from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, will present a paper on The Promise of Otology. Also, there will be two basic science lectures worthy of note. The first will be by Scott Plotkin, MD, from the Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, titled The New Frontier: Targeted Therapies for NF-2-Related Vestibular Schwannomas. The second lecture will be presented by Alec N. Salt, PhD, from the Department of Otolaryngology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and will explore techniques for local drug delivery to the inner ear.
Triological Society
With 46 podium presentations, and a whopping 123 posters, there will be lots to think about and discuss with colleagues at the Triological Society sessions. According to the society’s President, Myles Pensak, MD, the H.B. Broidy Professor and Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, the meeting will feature some of the best and brightest and researchers around, with prime examples being spotlighted at the Fowler and Mosher Award recipient talks. The Mosher Award presentation will be given by Steven Wang, MD, on the topic of CD44 variation isoforms in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma progression.
Two Fowler Award presentations will be given. One is by Ravindhra Elluru, MD, on fibroblast growth factor 18 and how it provides directional and proliferative cues to the developing upper respiratory tract cartilage. The other will be presented by Andrew Lane, MD, on the creation of an animal model for chronic rhinosinusitis-association olfactory loss. There will also be two honorable mention talks, one on outcomes of tonsillectomy in neurologically impaired children, and the other on audiometric patterns as a predictor of cardiovascular status.
Another can’t miss session is the Joseph Ogura Lecture, Eco-Conservation in Surgery, which will be given by Robin Cotton, MD, a leader in pediatric airway reconstruction.
Another important aspect of the meeting is the social activities. A the goal of the Triological Society is to foster collegial activity across the generations, Dr. Pensak said.
©2009 The Triological Society