Systemic Sclerosis World Congress

The 8th Systemic Sclerosis World Congress – Prague 2024 was a landmark event in the field of scleroderma, presenting a challenging yet enriching experience for attendees. It combined interactive workshops, insightful lectures, oral presentations, and satellite sessions, offering a comprehensive and engaging mix of educational experiences for professionals dedicated to the treatment and study of scleroderma.

The 7th World Scleroderma Congress, for both Health Care Professionals and patients, aimed to raise awareness and share knowledge and insights around the rare disease scleroderma, which is also known as systemic sclerosis.

The 6th World Scleroderma Congress provided an exciting and up to date scientific programme. The combination of hands-on workshops, lectures, oral presentations and satellite sessions granted an eclectic mix of experiences that was put at disposal for all attendees.

The 5th World Scleroderma Congress has been a significant challenge for the scientific committee in the effort to provide an exciting and up to date scientific programme, for a new and stimulating experience in the world of scleroderma.

This 4th World Scleroderma Congress combined the best experience we had in the previous congresses. The combination of hands-on workshops, lectures, oral presentations, and sponsored sessions provided an exciting mix of extraordinary experiences that were put at disposal for all attendees that devote their work to people with scleroderma.

This third World Scleroderma Congress combined the best features of the previous two congresses, emphasising clinically relevant developments in the field with a focus on aspects of care to improve the quality of life for patients with scleroderma worldwide.

Following the successful experience of the 1st World Congress in Florence, the second congress focused on clinical and translational aspects of systemic sclerosis with the aim of updating clinicians involved in the field. Based on the feedback from the participants in the 1st congress, more time was devoted to areas such as clinical problem solving, young investigator activities and networking between health professionals and patients.

Following is the programme:

The congress aims to foster outstanding research into the cause(s) and understanding of systemic sclerosis and to increase clinical care and awareness of scleroderma, worldwide.

Between February 11-14th 2010, the first World Scleroderma Congress took place in Florence Italy under the auspices of the recently formed, Swiss – based World Scleroderma Association (w-s-a.net). The program included an intense program consisting of 34 didactic presentations from world experts, interactive workshops and case presentations covering all aspects of systemic sclerosis, with a focus on translational and clinical medicine. In addition, a patient-oriented teaching day and six industry-supported symposia were included.

Planning included both health professionals and patients. The resulting program was both broad and new. Innovative aspects such as a mentoring program for young investigators added texture to the congress. Support for this next generation of scientists and physicians was also evident by the 42 oral abstract presentations and 362 selected posters.

The anticipated attendance of 500 expanded to the enthusiastic attendance of 1500 physicians, scientists, patient groups and industry from 61 countries. Only space limited even greater attendance. Patients were represented by 129 members of the Federation of European Scleroderma Associations (FESCA), and even some patients from the Scleroderma Foundation of America.

The congress was officially opened in the Palazzo Vecchio by Alexander Klee, patron of the World Scleroderma Foundation (WSF), after a series of talks by local dignitaries and also , very movingly, by a patient who shared her difficult experiences dealing with this disease. Alexander Klee, also an artist, is the grandson of Paul Klee, a resident of Switzerland who succumbed to this terrible disease in 1940, aged 60, his later paintings and drawings graphically portraying his suffering. The WSF had its inaugural dinner on the evening of Wednesday February 10th in the beautiful Bellini Gallery in Florence, strengthening the theme of scleroderma and art.