By Roy L. Silverstein, MD
2007-11-01
Dr. Silverstein is Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology at the Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.
Venous thromboembolism is a common and serious disorder with enormous public health impact. It is becoming increasingly clear that hematologists are well positioned to provide the national and local leadership needed in this field. Along with the usual robust collection of scientific poster and oral presentations related to the mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and epidemiology of venous thromboembolic disorders (VTE), the ASH annual meeting in Atlanta will offer an extraordinary array of special sessions and events that will be notable to anyone interested in the topic.
At 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 8, the ASH Standing Committees on Government Affairs and Practice will jointly host a Special Educational Symposium titled “Thrombosis in the Elderly: A Public Health and Scientific Problem of Unrecognized Dimensions.” VTE incidence increases at an exponential rate beginning at about age 50 with annual incidence approaching one in 100 among octogenarians. This session will feature state-of-the-art presentations by four renowned experts. Drs. Mary Cushman, Charles Esmon, Kenneth Bauer, and William Ershler will outline the significance and magnitude of VTE in the elderly; review current knowledge of its epidemiology and pathophysiology; address specific problems faced by clinicians when diagnosing, treating, offering prophylaxis, or designing clinical research for elderly patients; and discuss multidisciplinary approaches used by geriatricians to address the special needs of older patients.
Immediately following the Special Educational Symposium will be a truly unique event hosted by ASH President Andrew Schafer, MD, that will focus on the broader public health and scientific issues relevant to VTE. Melanie Bloom, national patient spokesperson for the Coalition to Prevent DVT and wife of the late NBC correspondent David Bloom, will share her thoughts on the impact of VTE on patients and their families, as well as discuss her efforts to develop a national coalition to prevent DVT. Tanja Popovic, MD, PhD, Chief Science Officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will bring her unique expertise to shed light on the impact of VTE on public health, and Jeffrey Weitz, MD, and David Ginsburg, MD, will provide an update on the latest developments in clinical and basic research in venous thrombosis. This special session will take place at 4:00 p.m.
These exciting sessions serve as prelude to the second annual Special Symposium on the Basic Science of Hemostasis and Thrombosis which will again follow the regular ASH meeting from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 11. The organizers have put together a spectacular program featuring six invited speakers (Joel Moake, MD; Benjamin T. Kile, PhD; Shahin Rafii, MD; Armin J. Reininger, MD, PhD; Roy L. Silverstein, MD; and Nigel Mackman, MD) spanning all areas of research in hemostasis, thrombosis, platelet biology, and vascular biology, as well as a number of oral presentations selected from the abstracts submitted for the annual meeting. During the session, the most important basic science contributions in 2007 in each of the three major areas of the field (thrombosis, blood coagulation and fibrinolysis, and platelet biology) will be highlighted.
