Portugal Chapter: Representatives from the Portugal Chapter address the audience during the XXXVII National Congress of the Portuguese Society of Surgery.
•Jamal J. Hoballah, MD, MBA, FACS, chairman of surgery, American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
March 16–17 in Figueira da Foz.
The National Congress is one of the most respected and largest events for surgeons in Portugal, with more than 550 surgeons and residents attending this year.
The Portugal Chapter session, which addressed The Uncertainty in Surgical Practice, has been gaining a relevant place in the national program.
Atish Chopra, MD; Lucyna Cieciura, MD; J. Gregory Modrall, MD, FACS; and colleagues found that over 20 years, approximately 50 percent of aorto-enteric fistula (AEF) repair patients died within 60 days. Gastrointestinal complications increase the risk of mortality more than threefold, representing an attractive surgically modifiable risk factor. Future multi-center studies are required to clarify optimal methods of arterial and gastrointestinal reconstruction in AEF.