The 14th Congress of the Mediterranean League of Angiology and Vascular Surgery was presided over by Professor Panayotis (Takis) Balas of Athens, Greece, who was also its founder. Professor Pavel Poredos of Ljubljana was an excellent host in the delightful Portoroz along the 30 kilometers of Slovenian Mediterranean. The border with Italy was once an ‘iron curtain’ into Yugoslavia but is now a simple move from one EU country to another. Passing further to neighboring Croatia is more difficult and there are fishing disputes etc along the border of what was once the Yugoslavian Dalmation coast.
Professor Poredos was surrounded by young doctors and medical students, and some 50 invited speakers addressed an audience of approximately 100 comprising of vascular surgeons, angiologists, cardiologists and dermatologists interested in venous blemishes of the leg.
The honorary members turned out in force, including Andrew Nicolaides, Cyprus, and Roger Greenhalgh, London. Dr Julius (Jack) Jacobson of New York has a lot of distinctions before he became a new honorary member a year ago. He trained Frank Veith and travels with his wife in a way that belies his octogenarian status. Dr Jacobson was introduced to the league as the author of the memorable paper on endovascular technique with Suarez in 1962. He has been acclaimed by Acland and others as the father of modern microvascular surgery. It was greatly appreciated that this star of 42 years ago came and revealed himself to the new generation who applauded him warmly.
