This newsletter is an annual communication podium among the Arab pathologists. It aims to communicate news of regional meetings, practice ideas, experiences, and job opportunities in the Arab world. News from the council and from the mother IAP is also communicated. Your contributions of any topic of interest to the Arabic pathologists are welcomed. Please e-mail your article to the address below. We look forward to your contributions.

E-mail: wasim.raslan@aramco.com

Wasim F. Raslan, MD, PhD
Editor

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At the beginning of my presidency to the AD, I wish to deeply thank my dear brother Dr. Samir Amr for his marvelous efforts and achievements during his presidency. I wish also to congratulate our colleagues in Amman for a successful congress, in spite of the terrorist acts during this time. In fact ,  Amman’s meeting reflected further maturation and booming of the AD and I am sure our next meeting in Casablanca in November 2006 will be a further success and I wish our colleagues in Morocco all the best. 

I want to inform our colleagues in the Arab Division that we have changed the name of the Arab School of Pathology into the Arab Institute of Pathology and that we are working for expansion of the activities of this institute, with particular concern to the junior pathologists, aiming at continuous medical education and updating of their knowledge.  In fact, we had a very successful educational course/tutorial on GIT Pathology in November 2004 in Cairo, which was attended by 250 pathologists, where only junior pathologists were allowed to review the glass slides, while all attendants could attend the lectures.

The meeting was held for three days in the congress halls of the Faculty of Medicine Cairo University and the teaching courses were given by Niel Shepherd , Bryan Warren (from UK) and by myself; daily from 9 am till 6 p.m.. We covered many topics including different types of esophagitis, gastritis and bowel inflammation, different polyps and neoplasms of the GIT, different types of GIT lymphomas and other topics. We allowed the junior pathologists to examine 80 slides in a hall with 40 binocular microscopes and the slides were reviewed and discussed with all attendants in the main congress hall using a projecting microscope. The tutorial was also attended by distinguished gastroenterologists who participated with two lectures to explain the importance of correlation of the pathological findings with the endoscopic profile.

 The next activity of the Arab Institute of Pathology is planned to be in Cairo (April 2006) about soft tissue tumors and as soon as we arrange for this tutorial, we will circulate the program through the AD website.  Dear colleagues of the AD, we have great ambitions of further achievements and booming and I am sure we can, conditioned by your cooperation, participation and support. I am also sure that the AD is on its way to occupy a distinguished position on the map of the IAP. I look forward meeting you in Cairo and in Casablanca.

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The Arab World continued to be the center of activities on both the military and the political arenas. With a war without end raging in Iraq, and unrest in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as well as civil war in Sudan and Algeria compounded by terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. All of these upheavals are having their impact on the stability of the region and on the welfare of the nations in this part of the world.

This certainly reflects itself on the medical services and the educational activities in the region.

In spite of this instability, the Arab Division is carrying on with its activities and expanding them. The most vivid example would be the last meeting of the Arab Division which was held in Amman, Jordan on November 10-12, 2005 at the Sheraton Hotel.

Above: H.E. Jordanian Minister of Health, Mr. Darawzeh with members of the organizing committee at the opening ceremony of the 17th, annual congress.
Below: Dr. Ismail Matalkah, President of the congress with President of the Jordanian Medical Association with H.E. Minister of Health.

Following the opening ceremony on the evening of November 9, 2005 held at the Royal Cultural Center under the patronage of the Jordanian Minister of Health, and after a dinner held at the Royal Scientific Society, a series of terrorist attacks on 3 hotels in Amman (Sheraton Hotel was not affected) took place in the evening. That attack created an initial situation of uncertainty whether our Division should carry on with the meeting the next day or to cancel it altogether.

Our Division decided to carry on with the meeting and not to allow the attack to terrorize its members and paralyze them. We thought that the best thing we can do is not to succumb to those perpetrators who wanted chaos and fear in Jordan. We decided to proceed and the meeting was quite successful by all standards as witnessed by our guest speakers including some of our IAP councilors.

Dr. Hiam Ali is honored for her frequent contributions and support for the Arab Division at the Gala Dinner.

Group picture of participants and speakers at the 17th annual meeting, 2005 in Amman Sheraton Hotel.

This meeting was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Amman, Jordan on November 10-12, 2005. Dr. Ismail Matalka was the Chairman of the Organizing Committee. Preparations for the meeting were in progress for 18 months. Dr Matalka and his team did a great effort to ensure the success of this meeting.

There were 150 registered participants from many Arab countries. In addition, 20 pathology trainees from Jordan were admitted free. Several pathologists came from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Our colleagues from Algeria were unable to come due to problems of airlines from Algeria to Jordan. A delegation from the French Division of 30 pathologists with spouses attended the meeting and did sightseeing in Jordan. Dr. Michèle Pellegrin de Villeneuve, President, French Division of IAP was among those who attended the meeting. Professor Kristin Henry, Vice President for Europe, and a long time supporter for our Division was there as well. We thank both of them for their support at a time of need when our will was tested.

The terrorist attacks which hit Amman in the preceding night did not affect the meeting. Almost all the speakers were in Amman, and most of the registered participant had already arrived. All the lectures went well on schedule. There were 21 guest speakers who covered 15 topics in various areas of pathology. They came from France, USA, UK, and Arab countries.

There were 60 presentations, including 12 oral and 48 poster ones. Themes of the program included the following topics covered by several speakers:
Liver pathology: Dr Alastair Burt, UK; and Dr Salah El Deriny, USA.
Hematopathology: Dr Elaine Jaffe, USA; and Prof. Kristin Henry, UK.
Flow cytometry in hematopathology: Dr Raul Braylan, USA.
Breast pathology: Dr Sami Shousha, UK; Dr Hiam Ali, UK; and Dr Anne Vincent-Salomon, France.
Urological pathology: Dr William Murphy, USA; and Dr Wael Sakr, USA.
Gynecologic pathology: Dr Awatef Al Nafussi, UK.
Gastrointestinal pathology: Dr Hala El Zamity, USA.
Neuropathology: Dr Mohammed Nour Nazek, USA.
Cytopathology: Dr Mousa Al Abbadi, USA; and Dr Nayef Aqel, UK.
Endocrine pathology (Pituitary): Dr George Kontogeorgos, Greece.
Molecular pathology: Dr Abdulghani Tbakhi, Saudi Arabia.
QC/QI in surgical pathology: Dr Raouf Nakhleh, USA; and Dr Samir Amr, Saudi Arabia.

There was an active social program, including a Gala Dinner at a resort by the Dead Sea, offered free to all participants. Lunches were provided free to all participants. Awards for the Guest Speakers and some officers of the Division were given at the Gala Dinner.

Ibn Al Nafees Award for best poster or oral presentation by a pathologist in training was given to Dr Futoon Sleem, Lebanon, for her poster “Surgically treated refractory seizures: Pathological findings of 80 cases”. A second award was given to Fethia Maamouri, Tunisia, for her poster “Detection of HPV DNA in 23 basal cell carcinomas of the skin”.

Post meeting tours to Petra and Jerash were arranged for those who were interested. The guest speakers were offered these tours free.

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Dr. Jaubert, President of IAP with Dr. Amr and Prof. Petrovichev and his associates at Gala Dinner of the Russian Division Meeting.

Officers of IAP participating in the Russian Division Meeting with their Russian colleagues.

Dr Samir S Amr, President of the Arab Division of IAP and Vice President for Asia, IAP, was asked by Dr Antonio Llombart-Bosch to help in supporting the 2005 meeting of the Russian Division of IAP. This meeting was held at the N.N. Blokhin Cancer Center in Moscow, Russia on October 5-7, 2005. Dr Nicolai Petrovichev, Chairman of the Department of Pathology at the Cancer Center was the coordinator of the meeting. Several officers from IAP attended the meeting, giving lectures and slide seminars. They included the following:
Dr Antonio Llombart-Bosch, Spain, Past President of IAP. Dr Francis Jaubert, France, Current President of IAP.
Dr Francisco Martinez-Tello, Spain, Vice President for Europe, IAP.
Dr Günter Kloppel, Germany, Vice President for Europe, IAP.
Dr George Kontogeorgos, Greece,  Secretary, Hellenic Division of IAP
Dr Samir S Amr, Saudi Arabia, Vice President for Asia, IAP.
Dr Bharat Nathwani, Professor of Pathology, UCLA.
Dr Jaubert had a presentation entitled “Germ cell tumors in children”. Dr Llombart-Bosch had a presentation entitled “Synovial sarcoma: a curious tumor with multiple phenotypes”. Dr Kloppel presented a lecture entitled “Pathology of pancreatic tumors”. Dr Kontogeorgos delivered a lecture entitled “Gastrointestinal neuro-endocrine tumors”. Dr Martinez-Tello gave a lecture entitled “Differential diagnosis of giant cell lesions of bone”. Dr Amr gave a lecture entitled “Kikuchi-Fujimoto’s Disease”.

Drs. Llombart-Bosch, Martinez Tello and Amr presented a slide seminar on soft tissue tumors. Dr Nathwani had a presentation entitled “The diagnostic significance of patterns in lymphoid proliferations”. In addition, there were local speakers who delivered lectures in Russian on the following topics:
• The life and work of Professor Krayevsky, a pioneer Russian pathologist, and a founder of the Cancer Center in Moscow.
• Immunohistochemical diagnosis of unknown primary cancer.
• Borderline serous ovarian tumors.
• Bladder cancer etiology and molecular prognostic aspects on patients exposed to Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in the Ukraine.
• B-cell lymphoma.
• Multiple myeloma.
• Epithelioid sarcoma.

The participants came mainly from Russia with a few from former USSR countries like Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Although most Russian pathologists did not speak English, most understood the lectures. There was simultaneous translation of our lectures from English to Russian.
The lecture hall was quite satisfactory and equipped with modern projectors and computers. There were some handouts. We gave permission to the organizers to keep our power point presentations on their computer and use them for educational purposes.

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Over 3 days (13-15 April 2006), an intensive course on soft tissue tumors took place at the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University. The lectures were given in the main Congress Hall of the Faculty and review of glass slides of cases was done in the laboratories of the Department of Pathology, which are close to the congress hall .

The speakers were Dr. Awatif Al Nafussi from Edinburgh, UK; Dr Salwa Sheikh, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and Dr Samir Amr, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. There were local speakers from Egypt: Dr Ali El-Hindawi; Dr Elia Ishak, and Dr Dina Omer.

Drs. Amr, Sheikh , and El Hindawi with participants at a slide session of the soft tissue tutorial

The tutorial covered most areas of  soft tissue tumors. Dr Al Nafussi had presentations on myxoid tumors, spindly tumor, and vascular tumors. Dr Sheikh had a presentation on fibrous and myofibroblastic tumors and Dr Amr gave an introductory lecture on soft tissue tumors in general, and had presentations on lipomatous tumors, so-called fibrohistiocytic tumors and synovial sarcoma. Dr Ishak gave a presentation on round cell sarcomas. There were slide seminars and presentations of unusual cases. Additionally, there was a lecture on mitosis in benign soft tissue tumors by Dr Omer, and another lecture on grading, staging and prognosis of soft tissue sarcomas by Dr El-Hindawi.

The lectures were placed on CDs and were given to those who attended for nominal fee (US$ 1.00) each at the end of the tutorial. The organizing group also prepared audiovisual CDs for those who want to revise what has been said in the lectures including the discussions.

The total number of registering pathologists was 156 ; mainly from Egypt ,with 7 participants from Palestine, Yemen, Sudan and Libya. All lectures were highly educational and up to date.  The meeting was very successful and all attendants were highly satisfied. Dr El-Hindawi made a rapid survey about the attendant’s impression, and had quite a positive feed back regarding the great benefits from this “pure Arab meeting”, which was much greater than all expectations.

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A three-day tutorial on Dermatopathology, was held at the Arabian Gulf University, Faculty of Medicine, in Manamah, Bahrain on November 23-25, 2005. About 40 participants had registered, including pathologists and dermatologists, mostly from the Gulf region. There were 5 speakers: Two from UK (British Division): Dr Jaime Eduardo Calonje and Dr Richard A Carr. Two from Saudi Arabia (King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Riyadh): Dr Tahany Al Halouli and Dr Mohammed Al Omari. One from Bahrain (Faculty of Medicine, Gulf University): Dr Naseem Ansari.

A Group picture of participants and speakers at the Dermatopathology Tutorial Held at Gulf University, Bahrain.

The following topics were covered by didactic lectures and slide viewing sessions:
Psoriasiform and spongiotic reaction patterns.
Lichenoid reaction patterns.
Vesiculobullous diseases.
Vasculopathic processes.
Granulomatous diseases.
Epidermal and adnexal tumors.
Vascular tumors.
Cutaneous lymphomas.

This tutorial was held in collaboration with Arabian Gulf University and Bahrain Association of Pathologists. The Arab Division of IAP is grateful to all our colleagues in Bahrain for their help and support. Special thanks go for Prof. Ali Mohammed Al Satir for his help with the logistics of the tutorial at the Faculty of Medicine of the Arabian Gulf University.A Group picture of participants and speakers at the Dermatopathology Tutorial Held at Gulf University, Bahrain.

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19th congress of the Arab Division of the International Academy of Pathology
Place: Beirut, LEBANON
CONTACT: PROF. Ghazi Zaatari
E-mail: zaatari@aub.edu.lb

27th International Congress of the International Academy of Pathology
Place: Athens Greece
Time: October 12-17, 2008
Web site address: www.iap2008.com

Ninth Meeting of the Syrian Society of Pathology
Place: Damascus, Syria
Time: 5-7 APRIL, 2007
Contact: Dr. Zahi Shawaf
E-mail: zahi@scs-net.org

Tutorials of Arab School of Pathology on Nephropathology
Contact: Dr. Fouad Dayel E-mail: dayelf@kfshrc.edu.sa

5th Asia Pacific IAP Congress
Place: Raffles city convention center, SINGAPORE
Time: 27-31 May 2007,
Contact Dr. Gilbert S C Chiang,
Web site address: www.ams.edu.sg/iap2007

Contributors to this newsletter:
Wasim F. Raslan, MD, PhD
Samir S. Amr, MD

Editor & Correspondence:
Wasim F. Raslan, MD, PhD.
Saudi Aramco, Box: 10613
Dhahran, 31311 Saudi Arabia
E-mail: wasim.raslan@aramco.com
Fax: 966-3-877-6783

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Dr. Wael Sakr, Prof. of Pathology at Wayne State University, School of Medicine was honored at a dinner held during the meeting of the US-Canadian Academy of Pathology , which was held in Atlanta, Georgia USA in February, 2006 . He was awarded a plaque of appreciation by the secretary of the IAP- AD Dr. Ghazi Zaatari. Several officers of IAP were in attendance including Dr. F. Jaubert, President. IAP; Dr. K. Muller, President elect of IAP; Prof. Kristine Henry, Vice President for Europe; Prof. Gunter Kloppel, Vice President for Europe, Prof. G. Kontogeorgos, Vice President for Europe. In addition there were several Arab pathologists from USA and Canada as well as Arab Pathologists from Arab countries, who came to attend the meeting. Dr. Sakr has been long standing supporter of the Arab Division since 1995. He contributed frequently to its meeting with lectures and slide seminars. He initiated the annual dinner at US- CAP meetings to get the Arab pathologists together and to inform them about the activities of the Arab Division of the IAP.

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• Due to the large number of young pathologists participating in the competition for Ibn Al-Nafees Award for the best poster or oral presentation by young pathologists, it was decided to give two awards this year.
• The first award was granted to Dr Futoon Sleem, Lebanon, for her poster “Surgically treated refractory seizures: Pathological findings of 80 cases”
• The second award was given to Fethia Maamouri, Tunisia, for her poster “Detection of HPV DNA in 23 basal cell carcinomas of the skin”.

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Under H.E. Dr. Ghiath Barakat the Minister of Health and Dr. Nizar Aqeel the President of Aleppo University, the Syrian Society of Pathology held its 8th annual meeting in Aleppo –Syria. Many valuable lectures and workshops were presented by members of the society and guests from other Arab countries. Dr. M.F. Dawamneh presented a valuable workshop on Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of Breast, Dr. W. Raslan presented “ Molecular Microbiology in Surgical Pathology”; Dr. Dajani presented his research on Fine Needle Aspiration of testes as a valuable tool in Fertility Evaluation. In Addition many papers and unique case studies in surgical pathology were presented by the participants.

A group picture of the some of the speakers and the organizers of the meeting. From the left: Drs. Z. Shwaf, N. Aqeel, M.F. Dawamneh, B.Ghazawi, Z. Abbasi, W. Raslan, G. Muhammad.

Drs. R. Baidoun, M.F. Dawamneh, and W. Raslan