Fourth International Joint Meeting on Thoracic Surgery, Barcelona 2018
As Guest Editors, it is our great pleasure to preface the focused issue of the Journal of Thoracic Disease (JTD), dedicated to the 4th International Joint Meeting on Thoracic Surgery, held in Barcelona on 28th–30th November 2018. The rewarding experiences of the prior three editions (2009, 2012 and 2015) of this International Meeting on Thoracic Surgery encourage us to work together once again with the purpose of celebrating this fourth edition in 2018. In previous editions, national and international faculty members from all around the world came to Barcelona to share knowledge and experience on relevant topics and novel aspects of thoracic surgery. The successful result in terms of scientific quality, number of participants and encouraging feedback prompted us to summon you to Barcelona once more.
This Meeting joined the efforts of three long-standing initiatives, in order to concentrate in a single meeting the updated information on several topics in the fields of general thoracic surgery and thoracic oncology: the 9th International Meeting on General Thoracic Surgery, Thoracic Surgery Service of Hospital Clínic & Sagrat Cor University Hospital in Barcelona; the 8th International Workshop on Surgical Exploration of the Mediastinum and Systematic Nodal Dissection, Thoracic Surgery Service of Hospital Universitari Mútua Terrassa, Santa Creu i Sant Pau and Hospital del Mar, Terrassa, Barcelona; and the 3rd Thoracic Oncology, Thoracic Surgery and Techniques & Transplant Areas of the Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR).
There are two novelties in this Fourth International Joint Meeting on Thoracic Surgery: the collaboration of the Spanish Society of Thoracic Surgery (SECT) and the incorporation of the Nursing and Physiotherapy Areas of the SEPAR. Both groups of professionals constitute an important part of the managing team treating thoracic surgery patients. They will join us for the first time to discuss burning issues in their respective specialties.
The Joint Meeting of 2018 has two principal goals: to provide the newest and the best evidence on several topics in thoracic surgery, and to review the most important details of time-honoured and new procedures and surgical techniques. The scientific programme, a full immersion in thoracic surgery and oncology, is designed to meet the needs of residents as well as young and senior specialists in thoracic surgery, pneumology, and oncology. It combines a series of short lectures with video forum sessions and educational seminars. Particular attention has been given to the discussion time of the topics in order to promote an active and rewarding participation.
We are very pleased to present here this Focused Issue of the Journal of Thoracic Disease (JTD), dedicated to the 4th International Joint Meeting on Thoracic Surgery. Our gratitude to Julia Wang, science editor of JTD, and Grace Li, executive assistant to CEO of AME Publishing Company, who encouraged us to coordinate this volume.
This Focused Issue features some of the invited presentations at the meeting and aims to review current evidence and management strategies, discuss the techniques of thoracic surgeries and the practical implications of the 8th edition of the tumour, node and metastasis (TNM) classification, as well as to give some insight into the future development or practice.
The contents are divided into four sections: (I) the editorial and meet the professor, with a text by Prof. Peter Goldstraw, who elaborates on the developments of thoracic surgery based on his professional experience; and an interview with Dr. Laureano Molins; (II) reviews, dealing with the relevance of a specialized nurse in thoracic surgery/oncology; the dangers of E-cigarettes; the importance of prehabilitation in thoracic surgery; the present indications of surgical exploration of the mediastinum; the management of incidental lung nodules <8 mm in diameter; and the impact of tuberculosis in present day thoracic surgery; (III) surgical technique, articles focusing on the technical details of subxiphoid video-thoracoscopy, transcervical video mediastino-thoracoscopy, tubeless major pulmonary resections, and VATS lobectomy with chest wall resection; and (IV) perspectives, articles reflecting on the clinical implications of the innovations in the 8th edition of the TNM classification of oesophageal and oesophagogastric junction cancers, lung cancer, including those with multiple lesions, and, epithelial thymic tumours.
We really believe that this special issue reflects a collaborative effort from multiple international contributors that is representative of the 4th International Joint Meeting on Thoracic Surgery. We hope that you enjoy it!
Acknowledgements
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