KARACHI: The Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry (LCMD) recently organised a one-day seminar associated with the Department of Plastic Surgery on 'Craniosynostosis and Distraction Osteogenesis'. Jinnah Sindh Medical University and Qamar Dental Hospital also collaborated for the seminar.
Prof. Dr Ashraf Ganatra, a renowned plastic surgeon, took the initiative to organise the seminar on this topic. Dr Asra Hashmi from the Department of Plastic Surgery, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, California, was invited as a guest speaker.
Prof. Dr Tahera Ayub, Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, LCMD, supervised and organised the whole event along with the two residents, Dr Mahnoor Zahid and Dr Amna Afridi.
The seminar was attended by almost 154+ representatives from several colleges, cities, faculty members, undergraduates, postgraduates and house officers. They were from different fields of education and training, like, Orthodontics, ENT, General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Cosmetic Surgery and Craniofacial Surgery, etc.
The seminar's purpose was to provide the audience with new and updated knowledge on a crucial topic.
Dr Asra Hashmi discussed the topic in detail. She briefed about Craniosynostosis, a condition of premature cranial suture fusion that can significantly affect development & growth, and evolving surgical treatments that include distraction osteogenesis (DO). Moreover, Dr Ashraf Gnatra, the founder member of the Pakistan Association of Plastic Surgeons and the Pakistan Cleft Palate & Craniofacial Association, also shared his views and highlighted the issues and lack of awareness among the society related to this topic.
He also emphasised the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in treating and prognosis for patients suffering from this congenital deformity. According to him, every child and their families have equal rights to live a normal and healthy social life without having any deformity, ultimately impacting their self-confidence and morals to deal with life's daily challenges.
Prof Dr Navid Rashid, Principal, LCMD, and Dr Naheed Najmi, Vice-Principal, LCMD, appreciated and acknowledged the idea and promoted to execute further the plan of arranging these sorts of educational sessions for better learning and understanding.
In the end, Prof Dr Rizwan Azmi and Prof Dr Ashraf Ganatra presented the token of appreciation to Dr Asra Hashmi.
