Editorial to the 4th Ruijin International Thoracic Symposium (RITS 2019)—Special Issue
The 4th Ruijin International Thoracic Symposium (RITS 2019) and the 4th Huaxia Thoracic Surgery Medical Forum organized by Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine took place successfully in Shanghai from July 19th to 20th 2019. This symposium gathered many leading experts in the field of thoracic surgery all over the world to conduct extensive exchanges on hot topics of thoracic surgery, and more than 350 participants attended the course.
This two-day symposium had a wealth of content including minimally invasive thoracic surgery, complex robotic thoracic surgery, surgical treatment of benign and malignant esophageal diseases, surgical treatment of mediastinal diseases, and rapid rehabilitation of thoracic surgery. We also talked passionately about how to carry out the clinical scientific research of thoracic surgery and translational medicine research and explore other related scientific research fields.
This year, symposium coincided with the breakthrough of 1,000 cases of robotic thoracic surgery in Ruijin Hospital. In recent years, the thoracic surgery team of Ruijin Hospital has been exploring in the field of robotic surgery, accumulating a lot of experience and achievements, promoting academic exchanges and scientific research cooperation between Chinese thoracic surgeons and international counterparts, and finally bringing greater benefits to patients.
It was a great pleasure and a privilege for us to act as co-editors for the special issue of the Journal of Thoracic Disease, which collects a selection of the most innovative and interesting lectures presented during the meeting, especially on the topic of robotic thoracic surgery.
We hope that this issue will be interesting and useful not only for the experts in the field but also for trainees who are taking their first steps in these innovative and overwhelming technologies. We do hope that you can join us in Shanghai in 2020, where we will host the 5th Ruijin International Thoracic Symposium.
Acknowledgments
None.
Footnote
Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
