Mini-Symposia

MS-1 Tuberculosis in Asia Today: Challenges and Development
MS-2 Update on Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
MS-3 Environmental and Occupational Lung Disease

MS-1 Tuberculosis in Asia Today: Challenges and Development

Background: Two thirds of TB patients in the world live in Asia. In the last decade, TB high burden countries made big efforts to implement and expand "DOTS", a comprehensive TB control strategy, to improve the situation, and those efforts are paying off with the reduction of TB prevalence in some countries. However, in the two WHO regions of South East Asia and the Western Pacific, it is estimated that we still have nearly 5 million new TB cases and 900,000 TB deaths a year, and those figures are not acceptable. Therefore, there is a need to address some remaining challenges, quality of, and universal access to DOTS, and emerging threats such as MDR-TB and TB/HIV. There is also a clear need to make a bridge between the public health service and the clinical service in hospitals and clinics.

Objective: To understand the TB situation and recent key issues in Asia; to learn from experiences from other countries; and to build a bridge between TB control officials and chest physicians.

• Situation of Tuberculosis Control and Challenges toward the Millennium Development Goal in China, presented by Xiaomei Wang (National Center for TB Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China)
• Management of Tuberculosis in HIV Coinfection Patients, presented by Charoen Chuchottaworn (Division of Respiratory Medicine, Chest Disease Institute, Thailand)
• Tuberculosis in Intermediate Burden Countries: Aging and Urban Problems, presented by Seiya Kato (Research Institute of Tuberculosis, Japan)

MS-2 Update on Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to:

• describe the etiology and pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension
• understand the potential impact of molecular biology in pulmonary arterial hypertension
• comprehend the recent progress in the treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension
• obtain up-to-date research information on the regeneration of pulmonary vasculature

This mini-symposium will discuss the etiology and the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension and also recent progress in the treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension. There will be an emphasis on practical, up-to-date information that can be of practical use for the participant.

• The Frequency of Positive Antinuclear Antibodies (ANA) is Low in Patients with Idiopathic and Familial, presented by Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (I/F-PAH) who have TGF-beta Superfamily Receptor Gene Mutations Norifumi Nakanishi (Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, and Department of Bioscience National Cardiovascular Center Suita, Osaka, Japan)
• Pulmonary Vascular Diseases in China, A Critical Issue, presented by Chen Wang (Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences, China)
• Pathogenesis, Pathophysiology and Treatment of Pulmonary Artery Hypertension, presented by Lewis J. Rubin (University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, USA)

MS-3 Environmental and Occupational Lung Disease

Objectives: This session will provide clinicians with information regarding current topics convering environmental and occupational lung diseases by shedding light on the situation in Asian countries. The participants will be able to explain the gene-environmental interaction, and the health problem of environmental and occupational lung diseases among Asian countries.

• A Study of Potential Risk Factors for COPD in China, presented by Pixin Ran (Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Medical College, China)
• Air Pollution and Asthma: A Lesson from Experimental Models, presented by Kaoru Hamada (Department of Internal Medicine II, Nara Medical University, Japan)
• Confi rming the Diagnosis of Occupational Asthma, presented by Keng Leong Tan (Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore)

(Note: These are not public sessions. Attendance is reserved for those who have registered for the APSR2006 Congress.)