Dear friends and colleagues,
It is a great honour for us, but also a great responsibility, to host the National Congress of the Italian Skull Base Society for the first time in Ancona. Ancona is traditionally a university and port city, as such historically open to dialogue among different people and cultures, thus adequately reflecting SIB founding element: multidisciplinarity. The ability to cooperate, to talk and also the intense dialectic among specialists with different experiences and backgrounds have in fact always represented one of the main characteristics of our Society. Skull base surgery was born, in its most modern, effective and safe form, about 30 years ago through the close collaboration of courageous pioneers (initially neurosurgeons, otorhinolaryngologists, plastic surgeons and maxillofacial surgeons), interested and dedicated to this type of discipline. In this context, SIB, founded in 1991 in Bergamo, is certainly one of the first and most structured national skull base surgery societies in the world.
One of the main topics of the conference is going to be addressed to the detailed knowledge of surgical anatomy, in particular to the approach and reconstruction, a vital element for the development and growth of a complex discipline such as ours. Other relevant topics will concern the craniocervical junction, advanced diagnostics of skull base pathologies and multidisciplinary treatments of anterior and lateral skull base pathologies. Distinguished Italian and foreign colleagues will take part in the conference, in order to offer the broadest and most up-to-date vision of the topics that will be covered. The program will also include a dedicated “youngster” session entirely managed by our younger colleagues. Attention will also be paid to other professionals essential for the care of our patients and for the progress of our discipline (nurses, technicians, neuro-rehabilitators, psychologists, biomedical engineers, etc.). Finally, our hope is also aimed at the creation of an informal atmosphere that favors direct contact with the leading experts in the sector, offering an opportunity for stimulation, discussion and comparison to meet the challenges that constantly arise in this complex area, defined as until not many years ago “terra incognita”.
Wishing everyone a good conference, we look forward to seeing you soon in Ancona!
Maurizio Iacoangeli Massimo Scerrati |  |
