The First Egyptian Organ Transplant Congress

Conference Date: 24th-26th of March 2010

Under the auspices of

The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt

Mohamed Hosni Mubarak

Welcome Message

Organ transplantation was pioneered in Egypt more than 30 years ago with living donor kidney transplantation, followed by living donor liver transplantation 8 years ago. Egypt has one of the highest incidences of end stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. To date, more than 1,000 living donor liver transplants have been completed in Egypt.

The medical community and society at large are anxious for the start of a comprehensive cadaveric program capable of coping with the increased demand for liver transplants as well as other organs. Tremendous efforts have been invested, over the past 2 decades, in realizing a law organizing the living donor practice and legalizing the cadaveric program as the backbone of organ transplantation. The time has now come for this law to see the light.

We decided to organize this congress as a platform for scientific exchange between experts, clinicians and researchers in all types of visceral organ transplantation including liver, kidney, pancreas, small bowel and multivisceral transplantation. The 3 day congress will comprise 3 state-of-the-art lectures, 2 luncheon symposia and 12 sessions including lectures given by local and renowned international experts in our field. A space will be left for interactive debates and discussions with the floor.

Original work presented as posters are welcomed and will be mounted in a separate space beside the exhibition hall where all pharmacological and surgical equipment partners will showcase their cutting edge products. Today, Egypt is at a crossroads in organ transplantation and we are looking forward to your active participation in this inaugural exciting meeting in Cairo.

Sincerely,

Secretary General Congress President
Prof. Ibrahim Mostafa Prof. Mahmoud El-Meteini

The Congress Logo

Imsety was a one of, the four ancient Egyptian funerary deities - Imsety, human headed protector of the liver, Hapy, baboon headed protector of the lungs, Duamutef, jackal headed protector of the stomach and Qebehsenuef, falcon headed protector of the intestines. They were believed to be the sons of Horus, deities who protected the canopic jars that held internal organs of the deceased. The ancient Egyptians believed that the deceased spirit might wish to return to the body, so it was important to preserve it. Imsety guarded the liver's canopic jar, which was placed near the sarcophagus, on the south cardinal point. Since the liver was thought of as the seat of emotion, a broken heart was the form of death attributed to the deity. Thus the name of this deity became the kindly one, which is Imsety in Egyptian. Unlike his brothers, Imsety was not associated with any animal and was always depicted as human.