Abstract
The DK Tank Memorial Conference was held on 17–19 September 2010 at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center (Mumbai, India). The conference was hosted by the Mumbai Obstetrics and Gynecological Society (MOGS), the Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecological Societies of India (FOGSI), the South Asian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (SAFOG), the Asia–Oceania Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AOFOG), and the DK Tank Foundation. The conference was held in the memory of Dr DK Tank, an eminent obstetrician and gynecologist, and a prominent figure on the national and international academic scene. He was a past president of a number of local, national and international professional organizations such as the MOGS, FOGSI, SAFOG and AOFOG.
The conference was attended by 780 delegates, 455 of whom attended the workshops as well as the conference. The conference had 26 international faculty members and 184 national faculty members.
The scientific committee of the conference consisted of Sir S Arulkumaran (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, UK), Rohana Haththouwa (Sri Lanka College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Sri Lanka), Shirish Sheth (FIGO, India), Sadhana Desai (FOGSI, India) and Narendra Malhotra (FOGSI).
The themes of the conference were:
• Practical management of infertility;
• Operative obstetrics, labor and delivery;
• Vaginal surgery.
On 17 September 2010, eight workshops were conducted simultaneously. All the workshops were at the Renaissance Convention Center. A select group of the individual presentations are discussed in this article. The workshop on Ovulation Induction was very well attended. Human Fatemi (Free University Brussels, Belgium) gave an elaborate overview of the importance of luteal-phase support in stimulated cycles. He concluded that luteal support is needed whenever there is multiple follicle recruitment. Although intramuscular or vaginal progesterone are equivalent in effect, vaginal progesterone is more commonly used. The duration of luteal support required may be shorter than current practice. Christophe Blockeel (Free University, Brussels) spoke in the same workshop on the subject of the advent of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists to trigger ovulation. The clinical use of GnRH triggering in antagonist treatment cycles could therefore completely rule out the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Blockeel also highlighted a recent trial studying the impact of 3 consecutive days of GnRH antagonist pretreatment at the initiation of the cycle on controlled ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins. In his pilot trial, early follicular-phase GnRH antagonist pretreatment in a fixed GnRH antagonist protocol resulted in a higher number of retrieved oocytes and a high pregnancy rate. He proposed this pretreatment with GnRH antagonists as a planning tool for follicular cohort synchronization and scheduling of artificial reproductive technology treatment. Paul Devroey gave a lecture about new long-acting recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone corifollitropin α, namely corifollitropin alfa. One single subcutaneous injection of this hormone is able to initiate and sustain multiple follicular growth for 7 days in women undergoing ovarian stimulation for IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection using GnRH antagonists or long GnRH agonists. This simplifies ovarian stimulation requiring daily injections. The Ovulation Induction workshop included a case discussion and a lively debate.
A workshop on operative obstetrics covered the nuances of operative vaginal delivery. The first lecture by Rajat Gyaneshwar (Liverpool Hospital, NSW, Australia) summarized current knowledge. The operative approach to postpartum hemorrhage was discussed, including newer methods such as intrauterine tamponade. This workshop was chaired by Ameya Purandare (MOGS, India), Rachena Dalmai (Seth GS Medical College, Maharashtra, India) and Munjaal Kapadia (TN Medical College, Maharashtra, India).
The Ian Donald School workshop on ultrasound took a snapshot of current knowledge and advances in the diagnosis of anomalies. Delegates could conduct an Ian Donald Diploma Evalutation Test.
A fourth workshop focused on vaginal surgery. Mukesh Rarthi (Seth GS Medical College) explored the limits of vaginal hysterectomy, while Nitin Pai Dhungat (Bombay Hospital Institute of Medical Sciences, Maharashtra, India) discussed the feasibility of vaginal hysterectomy in patients with previous gynecological surgery. An overview of the role of vaginal surgery in gynecological oncology today was presented by CN Purandare (CN Purandare Medical Center, Maharashtra, India).
The workshops were followed by two of the four orations held during the conference. The first oration was delivered by Anibal Faundes (FIGO, Brazil). He gave an emotional and articulate overview of the debate on the ethics, religious views and cultural background on abortion choices. The Mehroo Dara Hansotia Oration was given by Paul Devroey. He spoke about the innovations that have brought infertility and assisted reproduction practice to its present state and the directions for implementing research in practice.
The conference was inaugurated on 17 September 2010 by the Chief Guest, Yash Birla, Chairman of the Yash Birla Group (Maharashtra India), and the Guest of Honor, Sabaratnam Arulkumaran (University of London, UK). The inauguration began with a short audiovisual tribute to Dr DK Tank. The Presidents of the organizing bodies gave their welcome addresses followed by addresses by the Chief Guest and the Guest of Honor. A vote of thanks was presented and was followed by a session of interactive drumming and entertainment by Drum Café.
On 18 September 2010, The DK Tank Memorial Conference Oration was delivered by Arulkumaran. He gave a detailed appraisal of the current state of available technologies for assessing fetal health and wellbeing in labor and options that were emerging in the near future. Nozer Sheriar (Bhatia Hospital, Maharashtra, India) delivered the Dr DK Tank Foundation Oration. He took the audience on a videographic journey of the emergence of hysteroscopy and its current applications in a variety of disorders of the uterine cavity.
The scientific sessions on 18–19 September 2010 were held with an equal weightage to the theme subjects of the conference. Pratap Kumar (Kasturba Medical College, Karnataka, India) gave a video-animated speech on the mechanisms of labor in order to understand prolonged labor. The plenary session on 18 September was concluded by a lecture by Rajat Gyaneshwar (Liverpool Hospital) on cesarean section.
A short valedictory function was held at the end of the conference on the afternoon of 19 September 2010.
A few aspects of the event are highlighted here:
• During the conference, luncheon symposia were held. This was facilitated by a box lunch concept. A full Indian lunch was prefilled and served smoothly. The remainder of the time was utilized for presentations;
• Audience interaction was facilitated by a text message wall. Messages from the audience were collated to a computer in the hall, and filtered and posted on the screen. The moderators and speaker could see these in real time and select the text topics for discussion. The audience could also interact by asking questions directly;
• E-posters were presented by 26 delegates. These were essentially a platform for delegates to display their work in the form of posters. To reduce the burden of printing, the electronic format was chosen. The presenters were also given an opportunity to give brief comments on their posters. Most of the presenters were residents and postgraduates. They were given good exposure since the e-poster session was presented in the main halls, between scientific sessions, and judged by international faculty.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.