9th Kuwait Dermatology Update and Laser Symposium

The ninth edition of this special dermatologic event was held in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the magnificent Kuwait City on May 1–3, 2018. It was sponsored by the Ministry of Health under the patronage of His Excellency, the Honorable Dr. Basel H Al-Sabah, Minister of Health, and was organized and led by the distinguished Chairman of the Dermatology Council in Kuwait, Professor Nawaf Al-Mutairi, with the help of Program Coordinator Professor Abdel Aziz Al-Rashed (Figures 1, 2). The support and encouragement of Professor Abdulwahab Alfouzan were recognized and appreciated. The academic prowess and administrative skill of Organizing Committee member and session chair Professor Jasem Al-Shaiji, the Head of Dermatology at Al-Amiri Hospital, also merited accolades.
This conference focused on modern concepts and up-to-date technologies in dermatology. The scientific program included sessions covering modern treatment modalities for patients with psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, allergies, vitiligo and other disorders of pigmentation and much more. International and Kuwaiti speakers delivered superb lectures and participated in practical discussions. Invited international speakers and luminaries included professors from Canada (Tarek Omar), Egypt (Ibrahim Rekaby), Germany (Helmut Schoefer), Greece (Karmiris Nikolaos, Kouna Natalia), India (Davinder Prasad), KSA (Ali Al Ameer, Mohammed Aldraibi, Abdullah Al Khalifah), Kuwait (Abdulwahab Alfouzan, Qasem Al-Saleh, Sahar Ghannam, Ghanima Al Omer, Gamal Abdul Samee), Libya (Ali El-Zurghany), Oman (Abdullah Hamood Al-Taie, Ahmed Al Wailey), Poland (Wojciech Baran), Qatar (Sharifa Al-Dosari), Spain (Antonio Campo), Republic of South Africa (Riekie Smit), Sudan (Hayder Ahmed) and the USA (Seemal Desai, Alan Fleischer, Leon H. Kircik, Robert A. Schwartz).
The first session began with an overview by Robert A. Schwartz of the history of the dermatologic laser, emphasizing the work of University of California Berkeley Professors Charles H. Townes (inventor of the maser and laser, awarded with the Nobel Prize in physics in 1964) and George C. Pimental (inventor of the chemical laser) and dermatologic laser pioneers Leon Goldman and Edmund Klein. Ali Al Ameer enlightened with a “more than skin deep” presentation. Sahar Ghannam shared her own experiences with complications after peelings and filler injections. Seemal Desai highlighted treatment approaches to melasma. During the psoriasis session, Leon H. Kircik...


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