The 6th Portuguese Congress of Dermatology and Venereology took place from June 15 to 18, 2000, in the city of Porto. The venue selected was the Convention Center of the Transports and Communication Museum, a very interesting building, formerly housing the Customs of the city of Porto. The event was presided by Prof. Aureliano da Fonseca, and organized by the President of the Portuguese Society of Dermatology and Venereologia, Dr. J.L. Cirne of Castro, who also acted as Vice-President of the Congress.

Figure 1: Margarida Gonçalo and José Luis Cirne de Castro, chairpersons of the session about Pigmentation Disorders.

The scientific program was extensive, including the entire range of dermatological themes. Distinguished names of the Portuguese Dermatology and nine invited foreign speakers attended the event. Among the Portuguese professionals, there were contributions from over a hundred speakers, twenty-three moderators and six commentators, all cooperating for the high scientific level and great success of the Congress.

The Congress consisted of the presentation of ten major conferences, four Satellite Symposia, twenty-nine clinical cases, eighteen communications, and twenty-seven posters with a session for discussion on selected ones. The work groups of the Portuguese Society of Dermatology and Venereology of Contact Dermatitis, Dermatological Surgery, Photobiology and Pediatric Dermatology presented special sessions. Additionally, there was space for a session called Dermatological News and also the classic and always very successful session on "What is New in Dermatology", in which Dr. Artur Sousa gave a lecture on dermatological clinic, Dr. Wiete Weterhof, on research, and Dr. Américo Figueiredo on therapeutics.

Figure 2: Vitor Manoel dos Reis (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Wiete Westerhof (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Reine Westerhof (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Maria Dora del Carmen Reis (Sao Paulo, Brazil) at the magnificent gardens of the Foundation of Casa de Serralves during the reception prior to the dinner and jazz concert.

Among the themes discussed, the following stood out: "Dermatologic Surgery Today" commented by the Dr. Antonio Picoto; Dr. Margarida Gonçalo, presenting a lecture on "Airborne Contact Dermatitis", in which she discussed the clinical similarities of this group, mainly caused by substances of plants in the rural area and by epoxy resin in the industrial area, with photosensitivity reactions; Dr. Maria João Felipe da Silva on "Neonatal Vesicobullous Dermatoses", commenting that the skin of newborn is more susceptible to the appearance of vesicles and bulla due to its weaker dermo-epidermal cohesion, leading to blister formation in situations where the older child or the adult would not have this type of elementary lesion; the theme "Interferon in Dermatology", presented by Dr. Jorge Pinto; "Risks of sexual transmission of HPV", by Dr. Carmen Lisboa; Dr. Margarida Reis Lima discussing the "Prenatal Diagnosis of Genodermatoses", explaining how it is possible today to offer to couples at risk of many genodermatoses a specific, precise and minimally aggressive pre-natal diagnosis; and Dr. Fernanda Sachse with the theme "What is new in Melanoma."

Among the foreign contributors, Dr. W. Westerhof, from Amsterdam, Holland, presented the theme "Strategies to Treat Vitiligo", explaining the latest achievements in the clinical, surgical and cosmetic treatment of this disease; Dr. Martin Rocken, from Munich, Germany, with the topic "Phototherapy: present and future trends", declaring that phototherapies currently available still require improvement of efficacy and safety, and that the two novel approaches are the introduction of new combination therapies, as standardized treatment regimens, and the search for novel photochemotherapies with psoralens without phototoxic side effects. In the area of Pediatric Dermatology, Prof. C. Gelmetti, of Milan, Italy, contributed with a lecture on "The concept of naevus: a long story", where he stated that the current knowledge of embryology has explained the appearance of some ectodermal and mesodermal naevi, and that if a naevus can be considered a mosaic, the type and time of mutation, and the position of the first mutated cell in the embryo are the factors that will influence the clinical patterns of a naevus. Dr. Catherine Grognard spoke about lasers in Dermatology; Dr. Robert Baran, of Nice, France, on treatment of onycomycoses, and Prof. Marcia Ramos-e-Silva, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, gave a lecture on "Diseases of the oral mucous membrane".

Figure 3: Francisco Menezes Brandão, Mrs. Westerhof, Antonio Massa, Mrs Mesquita Guimarães, Antonio Vasco Poiares Baptista, Mrs Massa, José Manuel Mesquita Guimarães at the dinner at Fundacao Serralves

The two best posters presented at the Congress, Cutaneous ulcers in drug addicts secondary to intravenous injections, by Ana Paula Cunha; and Koebner's phenomenon, by Lourdes Sousa, were awarded a special prize in form of payment of expenses to attend the meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in 2001. Also outstanding were the posters about Week of skin cancer search - eight years of experience, by Filomena Azevedo; Teledermatology, by Alberto Vieira da Mota; Spitz's Nevus on the tongue, by I. Viana; and Scrofuloderma - a review of eight cases, by Cristina Vasconcellos.

To the best communications and clinical cases presented in the Congress, prizes in money were granted. The following communications were winners: Cutaneous manifestations of Lyme's borreliosis in the District of Braga, by C. Macedo; and Study of bullous eruptions with etiology probably caused by medication from the test of lymphocyte chromatin activation, by J. Sousa Pinto; while the best clinical case was on Cutaneous infection by Scedosporium apiospermum in an immunodepressed patient, by M. Alexandra Chaveiro. Besides these winner papers, attention was called by communications such as A survey of cases of erysipelas, by Anabela Santos; Dermatological Census, by Manuela Capitão-Mor, analyzing the presenting panorama of Dermatology in Portugal where there are 241 dermatologists in the whole country; and Surgical pearls, by Manuela Paçô, as well as the clinical cases of Lipoid Necrobiosis in a scar, by Joaquim Cabrita; Necrobiotic Xanthogranuloma, by Susana Machado; and the Cutaneous carcinoma of Merkel cells, by M. Horta.

Figure 4: José Luis Cirne de Castro, Margarida Gonçalo, Wiete Westerhof, Francisco Menezes Brandão at the dinner at Fundacao Serralves

The opening ceremony was solemn. In the cultural program the opera "La Bohème", played in the Coliseum of Porto was a memorable event, followed by a dinner in the traditional Café Majestic. The social program accomplished its cultural and tourist objectives counting with the support of the pharmaceutical industry. Also outstanding was the jazz concert at the Foundation of Casa de Serralves, as well as the magnificent lyrical concert at Palácio da Bolsa (Stock Exchange Palace) followed by a Gala Dinner.

Congratulations to the Portuguese Society of Dermatology! Your National Congress was comparable to successful international events, not only on account of the high scientific level and relevance of the lectures and papers presented, but also by the social and cultural activities provided to the participants.

Figure 5: Aureliano da Fonseca, President of the Portuguese Congress, and Marcia Ramos-e-Silva, enjoying lunch at the Convention Center of the
Transports and Communication Museum