BAM ' 98 International Conference on Muscle Plasticity

BAM'98 International Conference on Muscle Plasticity In this issue the BAM News present Program and Abstracts of the "Fifth Abano Terme Meeting on Rehabilitation, BAM'98 International Conference on Muscle Plasticity" which will be held in Abano Terme and Padova (Italy), June 1416, 1998. The Conference Topics range from Activity-induced Muscle Damage to Muscle-related Gene Therapy, but Muscle Plasticity and its Medical Applications are main goals. Local Organizers and the Members of the International Scientific Committee hope that numerous participants will meet in Abano Terme to: 1) exchange information on the latest developments in four interconnected sub-fields (Activityinduced muscle damage, Contribution of skeletal myopathies to Chronic Heart Failure, Dynamic Cardiomyoplasty and' Skeletal Muscle Circulatory Assistance, and Muscle-related Gene Therapy), 2) organise a European Study Group on Skeletal Muscle Circulatory Assistance, and 3) extend the Italian Trial on Demand Dynamic Cardiomyoplasty. Beside others topics, clinical effectiveness of Dynamic Cardiomyoplasty will be discussed and some exciting news will be presented. Indeed, using a skeletal muscle to support a failing heart is the result of a multidisciplinary approach, which asks much more than surgery and a trivial device. Among new developments in this surgical therapy of the cardiac heart failure world-class leader in the field will present their expertise in: i) Minimally invasive video assisted Cardiomyoplasty, ii) Vascular delay before LD wrapping, in) Monitoring of cardiac function, iv) Protocols for conditioning and regime stimulation of LD wrap, v) Bedside monitoring of the dynamic characteristics of LD flap, and vi) Demand Dynamic Cardiomyoplasty. Organizers gratefully acknowledge Siemens and Hewlett Packard which, even at such a short notice, were so kind to provide, respectively, a Megacart polygraph, and a cardiac Echo Doppler with Tissue Imaging to be used on patients during the Tutorial on LD Flap Monitoring. Let we hope that the perspectives open by the Conference will attract new interested and interesting scientists, surgeons and doctors to developments and implementations of the new approaches.