Turkey scores big in 6th SEEM’s abstract race

4 October 2010- Participants from Turkey who submitted and presented their studies during the 6th South Eastern European Meeting (SEEM) held in Istanbul, Turkey, over the weekend, scored big in the abstract race, collecting three of the six prizes given to the best abstract submissions.

"We are happy to see a lot of original and innovative submissions this year, and we certainly encourage young urologists to join and present their studies since this will reflect on the quality of work being done in the region," said Prof. Michael Marberger, chairman of the EAU Regional Office who led the awarding ceremony with Prof. Tariq Esen.

M. Binbay and colleagues who formed a multi-centre, international study with researchers from Athens, Greece and various centres in Turkey won the first prize from Richard Wolf for their work titled "Does simple malrotation in kidney affect percutaneous nephrolithotomy outcomes: a matched pair analysis in multicentre study." The jury lauded the work for its thorough and original approach and the fact that it involved several centres in two countries.

Receiving the equivalent prize from Karl Storz was B. Cegar and colleagues from Belgrade, Serbia for their work "Risk factors for LUTS/BPH progression- a view from urologists office."

Richard Wolf’s second prize went to another work from Turkey with M.S. Silay and colleagues from Istanbul winning the award for their work titled "Montelukast, a leukotriene- D-4 receptor antagonist, may prevent rat testes against ischemia-reperfusion injury," which the selection jury commended for its inventive approach.

S. Salem and colleagues from Tehran, Iran bagged the third prize from Richard Wolf for their study "Serum triglyceride concentration and risk of prostate cancer: a prospective multicenter study."

The other winners from Karl Storz were A.E. Canda and colleagues from Ankara, Turkey for their work on "Preservation of accessory pudendal arteries in robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy." Winning the third prize was D. Moschonas and colleagues of Athens, Greece for their study titled "Our experience with open radical prostatectomy through a 6 cm incision for the treatment of localised prostate cancer."

This year saw a record number of abstract submissions to the annual SEEM event with 300 abstracts received by the organisers with 240 finally accepted for presentation in Istanbul. Twelve abstract and poster sessions were held during the one-and-half day meeting.

A wide range of topics were covered such as incontinence, prostate cancer, reconstructive and paediatric urology, testicular tumours and basic research, nephrolithiasis, andrology, benign/malignant renal disease and kidney transplants, bladder and upper tract TCC, BHP, laparascopic and interventional techniques.

Karl Storz 1st Prize winner B. Cegar (right) with (from left) Prof. Mi, Marberger, Karl Storz representative and Prof. Tariq Esen