This congress aims to give a comprehensive review and update about living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and advanced hepatobiliary surgery.

The congress banner ‘Excellence through versatility’ reflects the enormous evolution that have been made in ths field of surgery , transplantation surgery and medicine since it’s first applications in clinical practice by Professors R.STRONG(1989) and K.TANAKA (1990) and Professor M.MAKUUCHI (1990).

The 90’s were the years of exploring technical and ethical feasibility (“nihil nocere”) : “the allograft morphology and anatomy matter “

The 00’s were the years of exploring functional boundaries by perfecting surgical skills and imaging (“small for size graft and syndrome”): “the allograft morphology and function matter”;

The 10’s were the years of exploring innovative surgical and immunologic techniques to enhance donor and recipient safety and to widen the clinical indications; “ the donor’s safety and quality of life matter”

The 20’s will be the years of transplant oncology and minimal invasive donor surgery; “the donor’s scar and agression matter” as well as of continuous cross-fertilisation between liver transplantation and (advanced) liver surgery

These evolutionary steps reveal that successful LDLT not only needs “excellence through innovation and integration” (this was the congress banner of the 4th ILDLT Congress in Kaohsiung,Taiwan) but also “versatlity”. How to cope with unforeseen, pre- or intra-operative,  difficullties difficulties needs knowledge, experience and flexibility.

Without any doubt modern hepatobiliary surgery has taken profit from the “cross-fertilisation” between liver surgery, living donor hepatectomy and liver transplantation. In order to optimize the treatment of liver diseased patients an interplay between liver surgeons and liver transplant surgeons must be developped in order to get acquainted with each others potentials. Liver resection and liver transplantation should not any longer been seen as competitors but as collaborators! For these reasons one session each related to implementation of modern technolog and to advanced liver surgery have been included in the program as well as two sessions about hepatobiliary oncology.

The holistic, modern HPB surgeon or expert indeed ought to entail an understanding on the role of LDLT not only in extending options for cure per se, but also on technical considerations for safe but advanced liver surgery as well as medical considerations especially in the field of transplant oncology

An international, transcontinental and both Eastern and Western, top-faculty will gather in Brussels to deal with almost all aspects, including the treatment of complications, of LDLT and advanced liver surgery.