ESSM Newsletter # 37

4 ESSM Today Meeting report ESSM 2017: Highlights from Nice by Maarten Albersen Nice 2017 This year, the annual meeting of the European Society of Sexual Medicine was held on the beautiful Cote d’Azur in close collaboration with the Association Interdisciplinaire post-Universi- taire de Seologie and the Société Francophone de Médicine Sexuelle. Local chairs hosting us in the lovely city of Nice were Antoine Faix and Daniel Chevallier who did an outstanding job. A total of 1.077 participants enjoyed the city during the congress. With 7 master lectures, 4 debates, 19 round tables and 10 workshops the scientific program was very successful. In- ternational experts demonstrated cutting edge techniques and new tricks in live surgeries. More than 200 abstracts have been presented. Participants attended from several countries all over Europe and other parts of the world who come from different professional backgrounds including sexology, psychology, general medicine, gynecology, endocrinology, basic-translational research and urologists. The biopsychosocial model and the implications for a multidisciplinary society As suggested in a 1977 article in science, psy- chiatrist George L. Engel called for "the need for a new medical model." And at that time offered a starting point for broader understanding of clinical practice. The biopsychosocial model is a broad view that attributes disease outcome to the intricate, variable interaction of biological factors (genetic, biochemical, (patho)physiologi- cal, etc), psychological factors (mood, personal- ity, behavior, etc.), and social factors (cultural, familial, socioeconomic, medical, etc.). In Sexual Medicine, this model has been broadly adopted as the standard approach to issues pertaining to sexual function and dysfunction. In this light, the ESSM every year again aims to provide a truly multidisciplinary meeting, where delegates from different fields of Sexual Medicine find a platform to interact, network, and educate themselves not only in their own specific area, but also gets a view from other disciplines on how they would approach a patient with a sex-related problem. To this end, in Nice we hosted well-attended multidisciplinary sessions aimed at broadening knowledge across disciplines on the role of the pelvic floor in both male and female sexual dys- functions, sexuality in cancer patients, sexuality in adolescence, sex-related pain, transgender care, metabolic diseases and sexual dysfunc- tions, sexually transmitted diseases, infertility and psychiatric comorbidities. Besides, we provide highly specialized sessions aimed at deepening knowledge on specific clinical situations which may help clinicians with detailed tips & tricks, such as the live surgery sessions. In the coming years, we will poll the ESSM membership and congress attendees to get an oversight of what topics they would like to see discussed in the future congresses in order to fit the needs of all attendees in the best manner possible. Education and science The ESSM’s core business is the advancement of both science and education in Sexual Medi- cine. Besides providing the newest science, we therefore invest in educating the younger gen- erations, also during the congress. To this end, ESSM17 boasted 10 workshops and tips-and- tricks sessions which are as always included in the registration fee, so no extra fee is required to attend these intensive, interactive and fo- cused sessions on different topics within Sexual Medicine. In addition, a sexual medicine update pre-congress course was organized providing case-based education and how-I-do-it sessions by experts in the field. Hot topics & prize winners As the ESSM organizes the largest sexual medi- cine congress worldwide, attendees can expect the newest research in the field to be presented at this stage. A variety of hot topics were trend- ing during ESSM17. Low-intensity shockwave therapy for male sexual dysfunction for exam- ple, has been around for some years but only recently a worldwide increased interest for this novel treatment modality is observed. Although it is regarded as promising by many, questions remain about the ideal treatment protocol, the ideal device to be used, and the quality of evi- dence and many discussions on these topics have been conducted during the conference. This is likely a treatment strategy that will be omnipresent in future congresses as well as it may well be the first restorative, not sympto- matic treatment for men with ED. Other clinical discussions in male sexual dysfunction revolved around testosterone replacement, penile implant surgery, Peyronie’s disease and premature ejac- ulation where new discoveries and educational events refine the clinical practice of the many healthcare providers who take care of men with sexual dysfunction in their daily practice (prize winners male sexual dysfunction: Marco Capece, United Kingdom; Nikolaos Ioakeimidis, Greece; Athanasios Zachariou, Greece; Walter Cazzaniga, Italy). In preclinical developments we observed during ESSM17 that we are still struggling to understand the pathophysiology of very com- mon conditions like post-radical prostatectomy erectile dysfunction and Peyronie’s disease. On the bright side however, several abstracts were presented highlighting that the search for novel therapies -such as stem cell therapy, regenera- tive medicine using biomolecules and pharmaco- Maarten albersen, Md, Phd Asst. Professor in Urology, Department of Urology, University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium maartenalbersen@hotmail.com