Biliary atresia and related disorders (BARD) in newborns are rare liver diseases, which are among the most frequent indication for liver transplantation in the pediatirc population. (LTx). For most of these newborn liver diseases, the etiology, pathophysiology and natural course of disease are not yet understood and the current standards of care often do not prevent the progression to liver fibrosis and liver failure. The rarity of these conditions and their diverseness hamper the capacity for even highly specialized centers to perform high-quality clinical studies and basic science research.
BARD-related neonatal cholestasis presents with similiar clinical patterns and share the same diagnostic pathways but require divergent therapeutic options with often unpredictable outcome. In order to compensate for limitations in these rare diseases, close interdisciplinary cooperation is mandatory. During the last 20 years, several single topic conferences were held, mostly on biliary atresia. With the intention to broaden the spectrum and to take the interdisciplinary community to the next level, the upcoming BARD-meeting in Berlin will be orchestarted by the website BARD-online.com. At the conference, each topic will be chaired by prestigious experts, starting with a state-of the-art lecture. The ensuing discussion will then incorporate electronic poster presentations, which can be downloaded in advance from BARD-online.com.
Our vision is to conclude the meeting by uniforming diagnostic and therapeutic pathways, establishing multicentric and disease related reseach teams and to group world-wide scattered specialist by means of the Internet platform BARD-online.com.

Kategorie: Fortbildungen und Kongresse