Welcome to the 5th congress of Asian Pacific Federation of Societies for Reconstructive Microsurgery (5th APFSRM). This congress meeting was supposed to be held last year. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic it was postponed to December, 2021.
Firstly, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Prof. Kazuteru Doi, Secretary General of the APFSRM and all of the faculty members of the APFSRM for agreement to this postponement. We especially acknowledge the Indian Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery, which will host the 6th APFSRM for their kind consideration to reschedule the meeting.
It is our great honor and pleasure to host the 5th APFSRM at Tsukuba International Conference Center in Tsukuba city in Ibaraki from Dec 1st to 3rd in 2021. The congress will be held combined with the 48th annual meeting of Japanese Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (48th JSRM) (Congress Chairman: Prof. Mitsuru Sekido). “Pioneering the Future of Microsurgery” is the slogan of our congress. I personally interpret this slogan as a continuous quest in microsurgery to find something new and devoting ourselves to develop microsurgery.
This is the first APFSRM meeting taking place in Japan from where many famous microsurgeons have emerged, such as Prof. Susumu Tamai, the first successor of Thumb reimplantation in 1965, Prof. Kiyonori Harii, renowned as the inventor of free groin flap, Prof. Yasuo Ueba, the first performer of free fibula bone graft in 1978, Prof. Yoshikazu Ikuta for treating Volkmann contracture using free functional muscle transfer, Prof. Kazuteru Doi, well known as the creator of the double free muscle transfer technique for total brachial plexus injury, Prof. Isao Kohshima, for having established the concept of Perforator flaps and also known for the Lymphovenoanastomosis technique.
Organizing committee members for 5th APFSRM chaired by Prof. Yasunori Hattori (the congress secretary general) are working hard to make the congress attractive and fruitful. On the first day of the congress (Dec.1st 2021), we plan to have the APFSRM pre-congress symposium. In this symposium, several microsurgery giants from Asia-Pacific region will make presentations about their expertized fields. We hope the symposium will motivate young surgeons to challenge the advancement of microsurgery following in the footsteps of the experts.
Tsukuba is very accessible with only a 45 minute-ride from Tokyo station by the express trains (Tsukuba express). Tokyo is connected to most of the cities of Japan by the bullet train (Shin-kansen) and a convenient flight network. You can enjoy tours to all cities in Japan, such as Sapporo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Fukuoka before or after the congress. We hope you enjoy, not only taking part in the congress but also relishing the Japanese cuisine and culture.
It would be our honor to have a great number of microsurgeons from all over the world participate in this congress to achieve fruitful outcomes. See you in Tsukuba.
Ryosuke Kakinoki, MD, Ph.D.
President of APFSRM
Professor of Kindai University, Department of Orthopedic Surgery
On behalf of the organizing committee, I am pleased to invite you to the 5th Congress of Asian Pacific Federation of Societies for Reconstructive Microsurgery (5th APFSRM) which will be held at Tsukuba International Conference Center in Tsukuba city, Ibaraki prefecture, Japan.
It is a great honor for me to host the meeting as vice president. 5th APFSRM Congress will take place from December 1-4, 2021 in conjunction with the 48th Annual Meeting of Japanese Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (JSRM).
Since its establishment in 2012, the APFSRM has made some valuable contributions to the advancement of Microsurgery around Asia, with Japan at the forefront of its development.
It has been 12 years since we last hosted an international meeting for reconstructive microsurgery. That was truly a historic meeting in 2009 as Japan (in Okinawa) became witness to the birth of the World Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery. I look forward to an even more memorable one this year.
Under the theme of “Pioneering the Future of Microsurgery”, I hope that this congress meeting will deliver the message of the future of microsurgery not only to Asia but to the whole world.
Yuzuru Kamei, M.D., Ph.D.
Vice President of APFSRM
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery,
Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine
It is my great pleasure to invite you to Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan for the 5th Asian Pacific Federation of Societies for Reconstructive Microsurgery Congress (5th APFSRM) combined with the 48th Japanese Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery Annual Meeting (48th JSRM) which will be held from December 1 to 4, 2021. I am proud to participate in this conjoint meeting as the Organizing Committee Chair.
APFSRM was founded in 2012 with the aim of advancing the specialty of Reconstructive Microsurgery in the Asian Pacific region, promoting communication and free exchange of knowledge between the various societies, and enhancing the opportunity of Reconstructive Microsurgery training through friendly exchange programs. The Congress first convened in Singapore last 2012, followed by Korea in 2014, then China in 2016, and lastly in Turkey for 2018.
The 5th APFSRM was supposed to be held in Kitakyushu in 2020. However due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have chosen to postpone the meeting to 2021. The pandemic has forced us to find alternative ways to share our researches with colleagues. Even though the virtual meetings made it easier to organize the international congress than before, I believe that it is still important for us to meet and discuss with colleagues in person.
The theme for the congress is “Pioneering the Future of Microsurgery”. JSRM has produced many leaders in the field of microsurgery. It is time for us to look back on the great achievements of our respected mentors and discuss the future prospects of our profession by sharing global perspectives.
I hope you will enjoy the meeting during the beautiful early winter season and I am looking forward to seeing you in Tsukuba Ibaraki, Japan.
Yasunori Hattori, M.D., Ph.D.
Organizing Committee Chair/Secretary of 5thAPFSRM
Congress Chairman of 47thJSRM
Department of Orthopedic Surgery,
Vice President, Ogori Daiichi General Hospital,
It is unfortunate that we had to postpone the Congress for a year due to the infection spread of COVID-19. However, I am happy and honored to host the 5th Congress of the Asian Pacific Federation of Societies for Reconstructive Microsurgery (5th APFSRM) at Tsukuba, Japan in December 2021 which will be held in conjunction with the 48th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (48th JSRM).
Thirty years ago, I can still remember how impressed I was witnessing the amazing techniques of our microsurgeons during the proliferative growth of this specialty. When I got to see the outcome of Dr. Kiyonori Harii’s Surgery, which was dynamic reconstruction for facial nerve paralysis using LD flap, it amazed and moved me so much that I said to myself “Wow, the muscle from the back enables the face to move ?!” Not only myself but other excellent young doctors have proceeded to become the microsurgeon with same passion just like what our respected mentors have done. Now, that passion has led to the development of new fields in Microsurgery such as perforator flap and lymphedema. The techniques learned from these new fields have started to gain popularity and have helped a lot of patients world-wide.
JSRM will mark its 50th Anniversary in 2023. I hope the 5th APFSRM will be a big stepping stone for the next half century of JSRM, just as it has played a key role in Asia-Pacific countries. Our organizing committee is working hard to bring you an unforgettable experience in Tsukuba, Japan. I am really excited to welcome you at Tsukuba, where the new era of Microsurgery will begin, and to spend valuable time with wonderful friends from different countries.
After COVID-19 converges, I look forward to seeing you all in 2021.
Kensuke Kiyokawa, M.D., Ph.D.
Organizing Committee Co-Chair of 5th APFSRM
Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and Maxillofacial Surgery
Kurume University
It is my honor to hold the 48th Japanese Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery Annual Meeting (48th JSRM) in conjunction with the 5th Congress of Asian Pacific Federation of Societies for Reconstructive Microsurgery (5th APFSRM) from December 1 to 4, 2021 in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. I am pleased to attend this meeting as a chairman of 48th JSRM.
1st Annual meeting of Japanese Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (JSRM) was held in 1974 and an annual meeting has been held yearly. We had an annual meeting of JSRM in 1987 at Tsukuba. We are very proud that we can hold this meeting in Tsukuba again.
JSRM is one of the most active and leading microsurgery societies in the world with a significant contribution to the field of microsurgery.
The theme of 48th JSRM is “Overview”. A Poster was cited from famous old wood print by Hiroshige. Like the Eagle in this poster, we want to arrange that many attendees can see many presentations and fields, from traditional to latest issue. A mountain in this poster is Mount Tsukuba in our city, one of the most famous mountains in Japan.
We will arrange 3D microscope hands-on course and microsurgical training course in this meeting,
A special lecture will be held by Professor Yoshiyuki Sankai, CEO and President of Cyberdyne and Professor of University of Tsukuba. Cyberdyne has developed assisted robotic system named HAL and he is a founder of this company. The other lecture will be held by professor Akira Watanabe, a chief curator of Ota memorial museum of art. He will talk about old wood print “Ukiyo-e” specially Hiroshige and Mount Tsukuba. It will be an interesting lecture about a Japanese old art.
We welcome the participants from all over the world. We are very glad to invite attendees of APFSRM to JSRM annual meeting.
As you are aware, we postponed 5th APFSRM: 2020 because of COVID-19 pandemic.
Professor Hattori, the President of 47th JSRM, has organized 5th APFSRM with 47th JSRM. I am deeply grateful to his great commitment, organizational skills and bestowing our city with the honor of holding two great meetings.
In early winter, one can see beautiful autumn leaves around congress venue. Tsukuba city is blessed with wonderful nature and museums. Tokyo being in close proximity, one can visit there by train in an hour.
I am looking forward to seeing you this December in Tsukuba.
Mitsuru Sekido, M.D., PhD.
Congress Chairman of 48th JSRM
Professor
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery,
Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba
