Preface to the 4th edition of European Perspective of Thoracic Surgery
This special issue of the Journal of Thoracic Disease (JTD) represents the fourth edition of a collection of invited lectures presented during the past European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) Annual Conference.
Thanks to the commitment and technical assistance of AME editorial Department, this issue has become a tradition to celebrate the past ESTS Annual Meeting and invite colleagues from all over the World to the upcoming meeting.
ESTS has rapidly become the largest organization representing general thoracic surgeons. It is not confined to Europe any longer and welcome members from all Continents.
As stated in our mission, the aim of the Society is to improve quality in all aspects of our specialty: from clinical and surgical management of patients to education, training and credentialing of thoracic surgeons in Europe and worldwide.
Education is therefore one of the pillars of ESTS and then one in which the Society is investing more resources.
The Annual Meeting is certainly the place where the highest standards of scientific education are delivered each year.
The last ESTS Annual Meeting, the 24th of our history, took place in Naples, Italy. More than 1,300 delegates from all over the World attended the Congress, which was a huge success.
This special issue of the JTD collects a selection of the most innovative and state of the art invited lectures presented during the 24th ESTS Annual Congress.
It was a pleasure and privilege for the two of us to act as co-editors of this special issue, representing the fourth edition of the European Perspectives of Thoracic Surgery.
We did our best to select the most innovative and sometime controversial subjects amongst many outstanding lectures given last year in Naples from world-renown experts in their fields.
Topics include chest trauma and surgical chest wall stabilization; salvage surgery after definitive radiotherapy; the role of sublobar resections for early stage lung cancer; management of multifocal ground glass opacities of the lung in the era of lung cancer screening; thoracic sympathectomy for hyperhidrosis; the perspective of a trainee regarding the thoracic surgery training in Europe; and the role of CXC group chemokines in lung cancer development and progression.
We are deeply indebted to all the authors, who contributed to the realization of the present volume.
This issue is once again dedicated to all women and men working in the field of thoracic surgery, surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists and allied health professionals who, with their daily commitment and passion help advance our specialty and assure our patients a high quality of care, a better quality of life and an improved long-term survival.
