EFA Medical Conference 2017: Welcome Presentation by Dr. Tamer Seckin

Dr. Tamer Seckin, MD, FACOG begins the 2017 Medical Conference by discussing the foundation, the conference, his personal story, and various endometriosis case studies he has encountered.

Key Points

Highlights:

• Dr. Seckin, the co-founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America, begins the 2017 Medical Conference by discussing the history of the organization as well as his journey. He then proceeds to talk endometriosis and shares with the audience some unusual cases of different types of endometriosis.

Importance:

• This presentation is important because it explains how the conference came to fruition and then proceeds to its set up.  

Key points:

• This is a historical conference as it discusses a topic that has yet to be addressed in such a public and open platform.
• The basic goal of this conference is to promote education awareness and quality medical care and treatment of endometriosis.
• The past conferences held by this foundation include:
  • 2010: “Advancing the Art & Science of Endometriosis: Stem Cells to Radical Excision Surgery”
    • Dr. Seckin quickly talks about what is known about the role of retrograde bleeding, and he emphasizes that science has yet to uncover why certain lesions develop and become problematic.
  • 2011: “Let’s talk about… Sex & Endometriosis… Seriously!”
    • This conference sought to fight any and all taboo surrounding this disease.
  • 2012: “ Endometriosis 2012: Tapping the Roots for the Next Generation”
    • Within this conference, it was established that this disease lays its roots as early as childhood.
  • 2013: "The American Perspective"
  • 2014: “Politics, Ethics, & Controversies”
    • The conference pushed for the recognition of endometriosis and other women’s health issues like human rights and civil rights issues within the field of healthcare.
  • 2015: “Ending Endometriosis Starts at the Beginning”
    • This conference focused on the value of early recognition, diagnosis, and removal of endometriosis.
  • 2016: “Pursuing Precision with Passion”
    • This conference focused on the importance of a surgeon and a multi-disciplinary team when it comes to combatting endometriosis.

• Many recognized faces support co-founder of the organization: Ms. Padma Lakshmi.
• Dr. Seckin discusses with the audience his personal journey and why he is ignited in the fight against endometriosis as well as breast and ovarian cancer.
  • He speaks about Sir William Halstead’s radical mastectomy, which was the standard procedure for breast cancer from the 1800s to the late 1900s.
  • Dr. Seckin also talks about his father and grandfather’s experiences with male breast cancer.
• Excisions, namely tissue diagnosis, along with visual identification of endometriosis are an essential part of recognizing and treating the disease. Dr. Seckin also believes that excisional removal also has the potential to remove some future cancer tissue.
• Endometriosis is an infiltrating disease of the peritoneum that can be characterized by lesions and estrogen-dependent inflammation.

Lay Summary

The first part of the Endometriosis Foundation of America’s 2017 Medical Conference delved into the mission and history of the Endometriosis Foundation of America. The first presenter was Dr. Tamer Seckin, a renowned surgeon, and gynecologist who is also the co-founder and Medical Director of the Endometriosis Foundation of America. Dr. Seckin began the conference by highlighting the fact that this is a historical conference as it covers a topic that has not been presented in such a manner before. The role of this conference and the foundation, in general, is to promote education awareness as well as quality medical care and treatment of endometriosis. Dr. Seckin then speaks briefly about past conferences starting with the first meeting in 2010. He then pays tribute to the recognized faces that stand behind this cause, including the other co-founder of Endometriosis Foundation of America: Ms. Padma Lakshmi.

Dr. Seckin then shares his story and what led him to engage in the fight against breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and endometriosis. Then Dr. Seckin proceeded to present various case studies of endometriosis. He begins by iterating the value of excision in diagnosis. He then goes to define endometriosis as a disease that is characterized by the formation of lesions and estrogen-dependent inflammation. Then Dr. Seckin showed various images from a variety of patients all of whom have endometriosis. Notable examples include a case where the endometriosis progressed all the way up to the patient’s diaphragm as so the patient had to undergo dual compartment surgery. Another case that was delineated by Dr. Seckin is a case of thoracic endometriosis. Overall, these different cases were used by Dr. Seckin to show the various manifestations of and treatment options for endometriosis.

All of the interesting case studies presented by Dr. Seckin and his complete presentation can be found by visiting the following link: https://www.endofound.org/video/why-is-endometriosis-foundation-of-america-doing-this-conference-tamer-seckin-md/1545.

Breast, Ovary and Endometriosis Videos: https://www.endofound.org/video/event/medical-conference-2017/1543

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlkCPAxyhjyPrPpLWCbj-OKTWpQG0jqwh