Delegation Visit to Italy – 15 December 2019

A Symposium on the ‘Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Liver Disease and Disturbances in Heart Rhythm in Haemoglobinopathies’ was organised by the ‘Associazzione per la Lotta alla Talassemia di Ferrara – Rino Vullo‘ and took place in Ferrara, Italy, on 15th of December 2019. The Symposium was held in collaboration with I-CET (International Committee of Experts on Endocrine Complications in Thalassaemia), under the patronage of UNITED Onlus and TIF.

TIF Assistant Secretary and key member of the Expert Patient Panel, Mr George Constantinou and Dr Michael Angastiniotis, TIF Medical Advisor participated in the Symposium with presentations on the patient journey through liver transplantation and new approaches in the management of liver disease in thalassaemia respectively. The Faculty of Speakers, mainly experts from across Italy including Prof. Vincenzo de Sanctis (an international expert, founding member and driving force of I-CET and member of TIF’s International Scientific Advisory Board) discussed all the issues and controversies that surround liver complications, with particular emphasis on hepatocellular carcinoma, its early diagnosis and treatment modalities.

TIF is working with a leading hepatologists and thalassaemia specialists from around the world on a project to better understand and identify causes and prognostic markers for preventing the development of liver disease in thalassaemia patients.