Verona Hosts A Hybrid Hands-On Intensive Master Class
Like sportsmen after a long injury, the top players of the International School of Surgical Anatomy (ISSA) team, Marcello Ceccaroni and Shailesh Puntambekar, after this long pandemic nightmare, are ready to hit the field again. Announcing the “2nd ISSA, International, Hands-On Intensive Master in Basic and Advanced Laparoscopic Surgical Anatomy of the Female Pelvis and Techniques – Hybrid Edition,” and third European AAGL-endorsed event!
The first AAGL sponsored meeting, the 15th AAGL-SEGi International Meeting on Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (MIGS), “Surgical Renaissance Worldwide”, held in Florence from May 8 to May 11, 2019 provided a pivotal moment in Italian Surgical Anatomy History, because for the first time, a live cadaveric dissection was performed from Santa Maria Nuova Hospital (the oldest, and still active hospital, in the world, built in 1288) by Ceccaroni in the same exact anatomical theatre where Leonardo Da Vinci dissected human bodies in the 15th Century. The challenge to use a surgical theatre whose doors have not been opened since Leonardo DaVinci closed them was welcomed by the International School of Surgical Anatomy (ISSA), which celebrated its 10th anniversary on February 24, 2020. ISSA (1) has dedicated much of its non-profit income to support the Santa Maria Nuova Foundation in its goal to renovate the Leonardo DaVinci Anatomy Theatre. ISSA also intends to run Surgical Anatomy Courses in the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital over the next few years to bring attention to Leonardo’s knowledge and teachings and to the renovation of his anatomical theatre.
Then, the “1st edition of the International School of Surgical Anatomy (ISSA) Hands-On Intensive Master in Basic and Advanced Laparoscopic Surgical Anatomy of the Female Pelvis and Techniques, in collaboration with AAGL,” held in Verona, also in July 2019, was a worldwide success where 110 physicians representing 25 countries and 5 continents (with a large participation of Indian friends) attended.
Now the stage is once again set for the “2nd ISSA, International, Hands-On Intensive Master in Basic and Advanced Laparoscopic Surgical Anatomy of the Female Pelvis and Techniques – Hybrid Edition,” a challenging surgical anatomy marathon that will take place again in Verona, on July 13-16, 2021.
Two years ago, it was our pleasure to not only teach but to also learn from the diverse and experienced attendees. So this year, my Co-Chair, Dr. Shailesh Puntambekar and I, are repeating this course that will include a four-day intensive live-surgery, cadaver lab and suturing master course.
The 2nd ISSA Intensive Course will follow where we have left off in 2019 with the dream team of an outstanding international faculty including some of the Masters of Surgery worldwide. We will share our passion for surgical anatomy and will pass on our knowledge gained through scientific projects on nerve-sparing radical surgery, parametrial vascular dissection and uterine transplants.
Every morning a parallel live-surgery will be broadcasted from two operating rooms at the IRCCS Sacro Cuore-Don Calabria Hospital in Negrar di Valpolicella (Verona), with a dense schedule of nerve-sparing approaches for deep infiltrating endometriosis eradication with segmental bowel resection, bladder and ureteral surgery (2-5), gynecologic oncology procedures for cervical, ovarian, and endometrial cancer, and various benign surgical pelvic procedures. The surgeries will be performed by me, Dr. Puntambekar and our skilled surgical faculty, performing in a real time Olympic Surgical Show including a live broadcast from Dr. Mario Malzoni in Avellino. All surgeries will be performed with an emphasis on “anatomical surgery.”
Attendees will have a full surgical experience on cadaveric specimens at the “ICLO Teaching and Research Center” in Verona. Every tower will be arranged as a real operating field and equipped with full HD and 3D scopes. Each station provides expert tutors guiding the participants’ gestures from outside, starting from the basics of pelvic anatomy to reproduce the procedures seen live in the morning.
A permanent satellite live and virtual video session will include a wide library composed by all the clips received from the top surgeons all over the world. Each video will be staffed by faculty illustrating the procedures and answering questions, and will be offered in a dedicated concurrent session, and available online, for all the attendees.
A full day will then be dedicated to an intensive laparoscopic suturing master session, both on cadaver and on pelvic trainers with wide audio-visual support of movies and theoretical lessons.
For all our friends and colleagues that, due to the pandemic or other reasons, might not be able to reach the venue, a virtual version of this outstanding hybrid course will be offered and broadcasted. The choice will be offered to participate live or to follow the course and the live surgeries by getting the link to the lectures and all of the clips of the surgical library.
So, with the high hope to hug each other and to be all together, live or virtually, Marcello and Shailesh are waiting for you to spend a lovely week with them in Verona, “The City of Love” (the city of love and roman history), July 13-16, 2021, or on the web by the way!
More information: https://issaschool.com/en/
REFERENCES
2. Ceccaroni M, Pontrelli G, Scioscia M, Ruffo G, Bruni F, Minelli L. Nerve-sparing laparoscopic radical excision of deep endometriosis with rectal and parametrial resection. J Minim Invasive Gynecol. 2010 Jan-Feb;17(1):14-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jmig.2009.03.018.
3. Ceccaroni M, Clarizia R, Roviglione G. Nerve-sparing Surgery for Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis: Laparoscopic Eradication of Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis with Rectal and Parametrial Resection According to the Negrar Method. J Minim Invasive Gynecol. 2020 Feb;27(2):263-264. doi: 10.1016/j.jmig.2019.09.002. Epub 2019 Sep 10. PMID: 31518711.
4. Ceccaroni M, Clarizia R, Bruni F, D’Urso E, Gagliardi ML, Roviglione G, Minelli L, Ruffo G. Nerve-sparing laparoscopic eradication of deep endometriosis with segmental rectal and parametrial resection: the Negrar method. A single- center, prospective, clinical trial. Surg Endosc. 2012 Jul;26(7):2029-45. doi: 10.1007/s00464-012-2153-3. Epub 2012 Jan 26. PMID: 22278102.
5. Ceccaroni M, Ceccarello M, Caleffi G, Clarizia R, Scarperi S, Pastorello M, Molinari A, Ruffo G, Cavalleri S. Total Laparoscopic Ureteroneocystostomy for Ureteral Endometriosis: A Single-Center Experience of 160 Consecutive Patients. J Minim Invasive Gynecol. 2019 Jan;26(1):78-86. doi: 10.1016/j.jmig.2018.03.031.
