IMAST Committee Update
David L. Skaggs, MD, MMM
IMAST Committee Chair
All are invited to the 28th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques (IMAST) on April 23-25. IMAST will again be offered virtually in response to the COVID pandemic but in contrast to last year, the IMAST Committee has been able to prepare for a virtual meeting from the beginning of the planning process and take in to consideration your feedback on consuming virtual education. Thusly, we made adjustments to the format and length so that everyone will be able to fit IMAST in to their schedules. We continue to focus on innovation and cutting-edge technology with concepts we hope you will be able to incorporate in to your practice immediately.
Some of those mentioned adjustments to the format include shorter session lengths, a rapid case discussion series, and live educational sessions spanning three days rather than over several weeks as we experimented last year. This IMAST promises to be engaging, relevant, and informative while also providing you time in the day to disconnect from the computer screen.
Of the 589 submitted abstracts, we have chosen the top 100 to showcase at IMAST. The best clinical and basic science research papers will be presented during the prestigious Whitecloud Award-nominated scientific session that opens the meeting on Friday, April 23.
Saturday morning brings you a highly anticipated discussion on “The Bandwagons I Jumped Off” during which some of our preeminent thought leaders reflect on innovative treatments that did not go as they envisioned and share the lessons they learned. There will be six other Instructional Course Lectures on the topics of Minimally Invasive Surgery; Cervical Spine Complications; Robotics, Navigation, and Artificial Intelligence in Pediatric and Adult Patients; Proximal Junctional Kyphosis; and Complications in Vertebral Body Tethering. Be sure to pay special attention to the sessions paired with abstracts for a dynamic delivery of expert opinion and cutting-edge research on the topic.
Other cannot-miss talks will be Jeffrey Gum, MD sharing his “Most Common Complication Using Robotics” (Session 4B), Larry Lenke, MD reporting on “Why [he] Does Fewer VCRs”(Session 3), and Chris Shaffrey, MD assessing “Novel Techniques for PJK Prevention” (Session 4D).
We have expanded to a “Lightning Case Discussion Series” that covers adult deformity, cervical spine, pediatric spine, and spondylolisthesis during Concurrent Sessions 5A-D on Saturday, April 24. Early career surgeons will look forward to gathering virtually on Sunday for their special session on topics relevant to those just starting in their spine care careers. In addition to all the education and scientific sessions, each day offers the opportunity to interact with our corporate supporters for both live sessions and on-demand videos and workshops hosted on our online meeting platform, in the Industry Modules.
IMAST registration is currently open at www.srs.org/imast2021. Your attendance will ensure you are updated on the most important innovations in spine deformity surgery that have taken place over the past year.
Look for the call for IMAST session proposals in May 2021 for the 2022 meeting in Miami, USA on April 6-9.
Chair: David L. Skaggs Committee: Han Jo Kim, Past Chair; Rick C. Sasso; Burt Yaszay; Juan S. Uribe; Ahmet Alanay, Chair Elect; Ilkka J. Helenius; Eric O. Klineberg; Tyler Koski; Brian Hsu; Jean-Charles L Huec; Stefan Parent, Vice Chair; Per D. Trobisch