Digestive Disease Week. 16-19 May 1999, Orlando, FL, USA

This year's Digestive Disease Week (DDW) was an extensive conclave which encompassed the annual meetings of four different professional societies: the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD); the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA); The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE); and, the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT). The meeting offered over 5000 paper presentations and poster sessions; it also comprised postgraduate courses, exhibits, and special educational forums. More than 12,000 physicians, allied health professionals, pharmaceutical industry representatives and research scientists were in attendance, over half of whom came from outside the US. Topics covered ranged from basic physiological research on all aspects of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas, to pathology of the systems and the effects of therapeutic agents at all stages of development, to disease diagnosis and surgery. The size and scope of the meeting made for an extremely interesting and absorbing four days and provided delegates with wide-ranging opportunities for discussion on the very latest in gastrointestinal thinking.