The 36th Annual Meeting of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) was held May 12–16, 2004, at the Sanibel Harbor Resort, Ft. Myers, Florida. More than 400 members from 14 countries attended the meeting. The program committee created a program in keeping with the society’s mission: to provide anesthesiologists, obstetricians, and other physicians and members of related allied health specialties with knowledge that will reinforce past learning as well as disseminate new concepts, practices, and skills involving anesthesia and analgesia for pregnant women. During the 4 days, the meeting featured the Gertie Marx and Zuspan Award symposia, Best Paper Presentations, a series of pro/con debates, three “What’s New” lectures, the Fred Hehre Lecture, the Distinguished Service Award presentation, “Breakfast with the Experts,” and two panel discussions. In addition, participants were exposed to both oral and poster scientific presentations that had been chosen from a record number of 167 submitted abstracts. On Wednesday, a preconference workshop focusing on High Risk Obstetric Care was held. The program was organized into six topics (Acute Respiratory Failure; Anaphylaxis and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Parturients; Obstetric Hemorrhage and Coagulopathy in Labor and Delivery; Cardiac Disease in Pregnancy; Hypertension and Acute Renal Failure in Pregnancy; Cannot Intubate, Cannot Ventilate). In addition to the Course Directors, 24 faculty members from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom encouraged participants to take an active role in the evaluation of clinical problems, thus developing insights into the skills necessary in the diagnosis and resuscitation of high-risk obstetric patients. The day concluded with the SOAP Opening Reception. The meeting opened on Thursday morning with the Gertie Marx Symposium, a symposium of the best abstracts submitted for consideration by resident or fellow anesthesiologists. A tribute was paid to Dr. Marx, who died earlier this year. Dr. Marx, a founding member of SOAP, influenced the development and safety of obstetric anesthesia for more than 40 yr. Results of the Gertie Marx Symposium are: first place, K. I. Stewart (University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada), “Comparison of Skin Disinfectants for Epidural Placement in Laboring Parturients”; second place, A. J. Fuller (Stanford University, Stanford, California, California), “Pain Tolerance in Pregnancy”; third place, S. K. Chau (St. James University Hospital, Leeds, United Kingdom), “Thrombocytopenia, Thromboelastography and Pregnancy, An In Vitro Model.” After the Gertie Marx symposium, the Distinguished Service Award was presented to recognize contributions to the Society and the specialty of obstetric anesthesia. The first oral scientific presentations, including five works in progress, covering a variety of obstetric anesthesia topics, were presented during the Thursday morning session. Before the lunch break, society members gathered for the first of two Pro/Con Debates, “Minimum Local Analgesic Concentration Studies: More Ups Than Downs.” The minimum local analgesic concentration model was discussed in a pro/con fashion. An argument in favor of the minimum local analgesic concentration model is that the design is more efficient at estimating the ED50 than more traditional dose– response designs. Conversely, arguments against the minimum local analgesic concentration model were presented stating that statistical efficiency of up–down studies is dependent on the choice of initial drug dose and intervals between dose levels. The debate concluded with statements that up–down studies do not replace traditional dose– response studies and investigators should search for newer methods of evaluating efficacy of local anesthetics. The afternoon meeting opened with the “What’s New in Obstetrics?” lecture, entitled “Neonatal Encephalopathy and Fetal Monitoring.” The lecture focused on the recent 2003 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Taskforce on Neonatal Encephalopathy and Cerebral Palsy publication Neonatal Encephalopathy and Cerebral Palsy: Defining the Pathogenesis and Pathophysiology. The genesis of neonatal encephalopathy and cerebral palsy were discussed, and the criteria defining asphyxia during the intrapartum period (acute intrapartum hypoxic event) that are sufficient to cause cerebral palsy were reviewed: Essential criteria (must meet all four):
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Jan 1, 2000
Ji-Tseng Fang + 2
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