Welcome

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It is indeed a great privilege and honor to host the 2nd Asian Conference of Microvascular Decompression Surgery (MVD) at Kawagoe City in Saitama Prefecture. I am truly thankful to my Asian colleagues as well as the members of the Japanese Society for Microvascular Decompression Surgery for this opportunity. The first meeting in 2016, which was organized by Professor Weiguo ZHAO, was extremely successful and we enjoyed the exchange of information among many medical professionals, including neurosurgeons and neurophysiologists who are involved in MVD surgeries. As president for the second meeting, I am proposing a theme “From Micro to Global” for this 2nd conference. Of course, “micro” refers to microscopes, but it also means “on a small scale”. Any case reports will be welcomed. Global scale studies will be a future topic, but large-scale studies such as “big data”, multi-institutional studies or case studies with hundreds of patients are also welcomed. Further, results from conservative treatments will be of value to surgeons.

It looks like surgery itself has become the standard of care for vascular compression syndromes, however, the success rate is not 100%. Some unpredictable complications have happened and not all of the patients were satisfied with the surgery. We need a higher success rate! At this conference I want you to have further insights into better patient management, and I also want you to build better networks, which will allow you to communicate easily and to get cutting-edge information.

Kawagoe is the city where the old magistrate's office of the Shogun in the Edo era used to reside, and there are many old buildings and temples from that age. They call the city “Koedo” or small Edo — Old Tokyo. To be in Kawagoe will inspire you about the past more than Tokyo, I believe. Enjoy the atmosphere of old Japan here, as well as the hospitality of the conference venue’s modern hotel. It is only a 30-minute train ride from central Tokyo, or 100 minutes from Narita Airport by bus. I am looking forward to seeing you in September, at Kawagoe City in Saitama Prefecture.