2009 CASA meeting in New Orleans and CSA and CASA Members' Gathering
Final report to CASA

CASA and CSA's joint annual gathering was successfully held at Five Happiness of New Orleans, Louisiana on October 19, 2009. There were about 50 members that attended this annual event. The gathering started with the Welcome Speech by Dr. Yanfu Shao, the current president of CASA and a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist from the Ohio State University.  Dr. Shao also systemically reviewed the evolving process of CASA's involvement in the academic activities of CSA (Chinese Society of Anesthesiology). He summarized the academic exchanges in the last several years, including lectures given by CASA members, workshops co-organized by CSA and CASA, publications and other academic activities.  His enormous collection of historical pictures and his vivid presentation surely impressed the audience.  Then Dr. Yuguang Huang, the newly elected vice president of CSA, and current president of CAA (Chinese Association of Anesthesiologists) talked about the achievements of anesthesiology for the last several decades in China and gave some perspectives for future development of anesthesiology in China.  Dr. Yonggang Peng then took over the podium and introduced the Scholar Exchange Program between China and the United States. He initiated this program at the University of Florida and intends to expand into a network spreading across the United States.  Dr. Hong Liu, also a cardiac anesthesiologist from University of California at Davis, briefed the audience with current status in terms of public relations of CASA. Then the scientific session started with Dr. TJ Gan's lecture entitled "Update of PONV". Dr. Gan is a well-known anesthesiologist from Duke University Medical Center. He reviewed the mechanism of PONV, current pharmacological development, and discussed strategies of prevention and management of PONV. Dr. Gan's presentation generated many questions and many attendees were involved in the discussion.  Then Dr. Guohua Li, the endowed M. Finster Chair and professor and the winner of Geggenheimer Fellowship and John Paul Stapp Award, from Columbia University, delivered a lecture with a very important topic to our anesthesia practice: anesthesia safety. His "Anesthesia Safety Indicators" reviewed the significant changes of anesthesia safety over the last several decades and its contributing factors. And he also offered some frontiers in the field of anesthesiology, which will be the hot research subjects for the coming years. We are also grateful to have Drs. Funsun Yao (Cornell) and Albert Cheung (U. Penn) with us. The restaurant, Five Happiness, offered a very nice atmosphere for our gathering, and the food and wine were a great addition for the event. The local host is Dr. Henry Liu, a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist at Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana. His excellent contribution together with the attentive efforts of the Organizing Executive Committee ensured the success of the event.
     (Henry Liu, MD, Yanfu Shao, MD)