OMED PATE – Partnership Award for Teaching Endoscopy

The OMED Partnership Award for Teaching Endoscopy is a newly founded award to acknowledge teaching activities. Units are to be awarded for teaching endoscopy to groups of people who would not normally have access to these resources. Individual doctors who travel to underserved areas to teach Endoscopy will also be recognized for this award. OMED wishes to encourage such teaching activities and is thankful for the many philanthropic endoscopists who contribute to this endeavour. OMED feels that endoscopy needs more people who willingly share their expertise, knowledge, and facilities with others to teach, to learn and to go forth and practice the art of endoscopy.

Applications can be sent to the OMED secretariat: secretariat@omed.org

 OMED-iPEN, the Initiative for Proper Endoscopic Nomenclature

Prof. Zdenek Maratka

OMED has a long standing interest in Endoscopic Nomenclature, starting with the early foray of Zdenek Maratka (Czech Republic) who pioneered this field. Lars Aabakken (Norway), Chairperson of the OMED committee on Documentation and Standardization, is further developing the MST program. The work which has been carried out over several decades is now ready for implementation and OMED is beginning an initiative to spread the knowledge among endoscopists that a uniform endoscopic language is important. Several systems of classification are currently in use, but have not come into the consciousness of most endoscopists. This thrust is known as OMED iPEN, or the initiative for Proper Endoscopic Nomenclature. To start this initiative, future OMED e-Newsletters will contain a full MST description of an endoscopic picture to acquaint doctors with Proper Endoscopic Nomenclature.

We are sad to announce that Zdenek Maratka has died. He was a man with vision who contributed substantially to the establishment of Digestive Endoscopy as a structured discipline instrumental for the understanding of digestive diseases. Maratka saw that it would be necessary for all endoscopists to speak the same endoscopic language and use the same terms to describe what the eye sees. For clarity of reporting, education, growth, teaching, comparing results and interchange of ideas, all must use the correct words and be aware of their meaning – the subject matter for terminology and semantics.

It is frequently sad, but also encouraging, to remember such powerful personalities for their professional and humanistic character, a good example for the generations to come.

» Click here to read to read the entire memorial statement by Massimo Crespi, OMED Past President

 OMED Ad Hoc Outreach Committee

Dr. Luis Vinueza, Ms Cecilia de Páez, Dr. James DiSario, Mr. Steven La Mendola at the Opening Ceremony of the Fundacion MetroFraternidad Outreach Site sponsored by Olympus Latin America in Quito Ecuador in March 2010

Chairman: James A. DiSario. M.D.
The mission of the ad hoc Outreach Committee is to develop and implement projects aimed at improving endoscopic practice in underserved areas of the world. There are two Working Groups within the Committee: the Outreach Program and the African Working Group.

The Outreach Program is co-chaired by Dr. James DiSario and Professor C.J.J. Mulder. The charge is to introduce, re-introduce and/or supplement endoscopic equipment in areas of need, to provide on site training, and offer opportunities for continued interactions with the local endoscopists and OMED. In conjunction with industry, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and governments, endoscopic equipment and supplies are donated to selected sites. Eligible recipients must have significantly limited or no endoscopic services and be a public facility. There must be one or more trained endoscopists, appropriate space, technical and nursing personnel, and a guaranteed budget for supplies, accessories and maintenance. Training institutions are preferred. Eligible sites must submit an application, and recipients are selected by an international committee and the sponsoring organizations. OMED representatives will visit the site to inspect the facility, participate in an initiation ceremony and provide training and education. The recipient must comply with OMED guidelines on endoscopic training and practice, and file quarterly reports of endoscopic utilization and outcomes for at least one year. Continued involvement with OMED is expected. Other initiatives include recognition of Units and Endoscopists that independently perform similar activities. In conjunction with the Olympus Corporation, donations have been made in Argentina, Guatemala, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Burkina Faso in West Africa. There have been other donations in Uganda and Ethiopia. Future donations are planned throughout the world.

The African Working Group is Co-chaired by Professor Ibrahim Mostafa. The mission is to provide for African representation within OMED with the aim of creating a permanent African zone within the OMED structure. A delegate from the Working Group will attend OMED Governing Council meetings. An initial project is to identify influential gastroenterologists throughout the continent and create a communications network for OMED projects. The Working Group will develop and implement initiatives for the continent.

 OMED Showcase: Centers of Excellence

This month OMED highlights the Endoscopy Unit at University of Malaya Medical Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Endoscopy unit of the University of Malaya Medical Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is proud to be recognized as an OMED Center of Excellence. The unit is part of the UMMC which is a tertiary hospital serving a large suburban area of the capital city of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur. The endoscopy unit follows the tradition of the hospital, long regarded as the top medical center in the country. The endoscopy unit in the UMMC was the first such unit established in Malaysia and under the leadership of Professor Dr KL Goh has gone on to maintain its status as the leading center providing the whole range of therapeutic GI procedures as well as undeniable strength in research and training. Since 2005 the Endoscopy unit has opened its doors to foreign trainees. One of the proudest achievements of the center is the annual Endoscopy workshop organized since 1993 in conjunction with the Malaysian Society of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. In 2010, Malaysia will be hosting the Asian Pacific Digestive Disease Week in Kuala Lumpur from 19th-22nd September 2010 with the theme "Gastroenterology in Asia Pacific- Excellence in the New Decade". At this occasion, OMED will again offer an Endoscopy Director´s Workshop.

» Read more

This latest demonstration video shows Dr. Jerome D. Waye removing a large colonic lipoma at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. A symptomatic lipoma was found in the sigmoid colon of a 65 year old patient. Surgery had been suggested but an attempt was made to remove the lipoma endoscopically. Any attempt to cut across a large lipoma may be dangerous because the fatty tissue dissipates heat very quickly when cutting across the mucosa and this may result in a deep burn which can cause a perforation of the bowel. Here, an attempt was made at denuding the lipoma by capturing a portion of the mucosa and cutting it off. An attempt at squeezing the lipoma was made to extricate it through this mucosal defect, but this was unsuccessful. Further portions of mucosa were then resected until the lipoma itself was exposed sufficiently to be able to cut it off in piecemeal fashion. Cutting across the lipoma itself is relatively quick as opposed to cutting across the mucosa since the heat from the electrocautery snare is conducted away by the fat. The procedure demonstrated in this video has resulted in a marked reduction in the size of the lipoma. Only a small portion was left which will heal and result in curing the symptoms.

» View live demonstration video

» Click here to view the OMED Video library

 NYSGE: Issues in Hemostasis: Antiplatelet Agents and PPIs

By David Greenwald, MD

The New York Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy is the largest regional GI endoscopy society in the United States. The Society is dedicated to the teaching and advancement of gastrointestinal endoscopy. The society runs numerous programs throughout the year, including an annual fellow’s endoscopy course each summer, and a major postgraduate endoscopy conference each fall. The next course will be held at the Marriott Marquis in New York during December 15-18, 2010.

Each month a syllabus entry from the 32nd Annual New York Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Course can be accessed here. This month the entry is entitled “Issues in Hemostasis: Antiplatelet Agents and PPIs” by David Greenwald, MD.

Antiplatelet agents, and specifically the thienopyridines such as clopidogrel and ticlopidine, are commonly used to reduce cardiovascular events and often in combination with aspirin. The thienopyridines are antagonists to the platelet cell surface ADP receptor; when this receptor is blocked, subsequent ADP-mediated activation of the GP IIb/IIIa receptor is inhibited. Use of thienopyridines inhibits 40%-60% of ADP-induced platelet aggregation in 3-5 days, and the thienopyridines lead to some antiplatelet activity for 7-10 days. Patients treated with thienopyridines and aspirin are often given PPIs as well to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.

» Read more

 Brainteaser/image of the month

by Bjorn Rembacken

This lesion was found in the descending colon of a patient undergoing colonoscopy for anaemia.

What type of lesion is this?

a) hyperplastic polyp

b) tubular adenoma

c) tubulovillous adenoma

d) villous adenoma

e) serrated adenoma

» Click Here for the Answer and Explanation

 OESO ´s (World Organization for Specialized Studies on Diseases of the Esophagus) 10th World Congress: Boston, August 28-31, 2010

A multi-disciplinary approach to unmet clinical needs in esophageal disease.

This is the first time that this conference is taking place outside France and promises to continue the great tradition of the nine previous OESO congresses and more. These conferences have evolved and have now included many enhancements in the scope, presentation and scientific content.

In line with the mission of OESO since its creation, this Conference will represent a true multi-disciplinary undertaking that will be of interest to clinicians as well as investigators, gastroenterologists or basic scientists, be they physiologists, endoscopists, surgeons, pediatricians, ENT specialists, radiologists, pathologists, pharmacologists, molecular biologists, nutritionists, or medical practitioners interested in the foregut.

» Read more

 Meeting of the Society of Gastrointestinal Intervention (SGI 2010)

The Society of Gastrointestinal Intervention (SGI) is a medical association established with the mission to pursue multidisciplinary collaboration between radiologists, endoscopists, and surgeons in the study and treatment of gastrointestinal and related diseases.

Every year, SGI hosts lectures and discussions with world-renowned scholars, and organizes an international meeting to share the latest knowledge and opinions in the various field of gastrointestinal intervention.

This year, The 4th Meeting of the Society of Gastrointestinal Intervention (SGI 2010) will take place October 8 – 9, 2010 in the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill, Seoul, Korea. Over 700 participants from 24 countries (Exhibition: 30 companies) are expected to partake.

Live Demonstration will include: Endoscopic pancreatic pseudocyst and necrosectomy, Endoscopic extraction of large CBD stone with balloon dilation, NBI cholangioscopy, Human NOTES, Cases of PEG/percutaneous gastrostomy, Percutaneous and endoscopic management of biliary leak & stricture, Percutaneous and peroral approach for hilar malignant obstruction, and Magnet anastomosis formation in patient after LDLT.

 ICE2011: 50th anniversary of Endoscopy, September 12-14, 2011

Bringing together the leaders in medical gastrointestinal endoscopy and surgical endoscopy including laparoscopy

September 12-14, 2011, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Congress President: Jerome D. Waye

Scientific Chairs: Jeffrey M. Marks, Abe Fingerhut, Robert H. Hawes, Roque Sáenz

Ten surgical and medical organizations involved in the specialty of endoscopy have joined together to organize this unique congress:

ICE 2011 will differ from all other meetings because surgical endoscopists and medical endoscopists along with their nursing staffs will present the techniques of performing the procedures as well as discuss the wide scope of surgical and medical endoscopic alternatives for management of varied gastrointestinal diseases.

Please visit the congress website for more details at www.ice2011.org.

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