This year, the 50th annual congress of our specialist society took place in the beautiful Hanseatic city of Hamburg.
One of the main topics was an international session with renowned speakers on the subject of breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL). This lymphoma, which is located in the implant capsule, can manifest itself as a late accumulation of fluid around the implant (late seroma) on ultrasound and can be treated by removing the implant and capsule. It occurs extremely rarely - only around 15 cases (out of 83 million inhabitants) have been reported in Germany to date, but should always be mentioned as a possible, albeit very low, risk when informing the patient.
The various silicone implants available on the market and their risk of capsular fibrosis, susceptibility to infection, etc. were also discussed.
Evaluations of the surgical treatment of "Breast Implant Illnes patients" were presented - however, long-term results of larger numbers of patients are still pending.
In the field of reconstructive surgery, there were very interesting sessions on "Patient safety in facial soft tissue and functional reconstruction", "Sustainability in breast surgery", "Complications, quality and outcome in post-bariatric surgery" (tightening operations), as well as "New and tried-and-tested aspects of lipoedema" and "Free fat tissue transfer".
In individual workshops, based on the basics of anatomy, special filler treatments for wrinkles or volume deficits in the middle and lower facial area were presented and the treatment of the aging processes of the hand through volume therapy using fillers or autologous fat was dealt with in a separate session.
In the Dieffenbach Lecture, Professor Axel-Mario Feller was honored by Professor Edgar Biemer for his outstanding achievements in "30 years of breast reconstruction". Professor Feller's lecture was, as always, very impressive and informative.
All in all, these were very exciting and informative congress days as part of our ongoing training in the field of plastic and aesthetic surgery.
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