A professional meeting dedicated to world trends in transplant medicine was held at the Military Medical Academy.

The event was attended by the Head of the Military Healthcare Department, Brigadier General Prof. Dr. Dragan Dinčić, and the Head of the Military Medical Academy, Colonel Prof. Dr. Nenad Perišić, with associates, as well as numerous representatives of healthcare institutions from the country and the region.

The Head of the Military Medical Academy, Colonel Prof. Dr. Nenad Perišić, greeted those present on behalf of the institution, which this year marks its 181st year of existence and continuous commitment to the health and well-being of all our citizens.

- Our history is a testament to tradition, expertise, innovation, medical science and practice achievements. Transplant medicine represents one of the most complex, but also the most humane areas in medicine - said the Prof. Dr. Nenad Perišić, Head of the Military Medical Academy.

He emphasized that this type of medicine requires top-notch knowledge and skills, as well as deeply rooted ethical principles, teamwork, and selflessness of all those involved in the transplantation program and that an institution with such a long tradition has a responsibility to continuously contribute to the development of an important segment of medicine. The Head of the Military Medical Academy thanked Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić, who organized a team of doctors led by Prof. Dr. Božin Radević, who performed the first liver transplant in Serbia and the Balkans in 1995. He also stated that the MMA team owes special gratitude to retired Lieutenant General Prof. Dr. Miodrag Jevtić, the former Head of the Military Medical Academy, who introduced the liver transplantation program at the MMA in 2005 when the first successful liver transplant was performed in this institution.

The conference entitled "Integrative Approach to Liver and Kidney Transplantation: Modern Achievements and Challenges" was organized in response to modern achievements in this field of medicine and the expansion of indications for transplantation, especially in the field of transplant oncology, which has led to an increase in the number of potential recipients, but also to the desire to increase the number of potential donors. Given that there is increasing talk about organ donation after cardiac death, new surgical techniques, as well as new priorities on the transplant waiting list, it is a necessary step to follow the experiences and guidelines of large transplant centers regarding immunosuppressive therapy and monitoring of transplanted patients to raise the success of the procedure to the highest possible level.

For this reason, in the professional part of the symposium, MMA specialists, and members of transplantation teams, presented their experiences and knowledge acquired during their stay and education in eminent transplantation centers abroad. The Head of the MMA Center for Organ, Cell and Tissue Transplantation, Colonel Dr. Mirko Jovanović, spoke about the MMA's results to date, while gastroenterologist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Irina Brčerević spoke about new trends in indications for liver transplantation. Vascular surgery specialist, Prof. Dr. Momir Šarac, spoke about the surgical aspects of cadaveric liver transplantation, general surgery specialist, Prof. Dr. Milan Jovanović, spoke about living donor liver transplantation, and improving kidney transplantation at the MMA using the experience of the Italian transplantation center in Turin, Prof. Dr. Marijana Petrović, a nephrologist specialist, and participants heard more about the importance of the regional and local coordination center and the role of the coordinator in organ transplantation from Dr. Jelena Tadić, a nephrologist specialist.