The “Castellvi Spine Meeting” is taking place in just three weeks, (May 7, 2015). The meeting is named and continued in honor of Antonio Castellvi, M.D., who passed away unexpectedly just before the 2014 “Duck Key Meeting.”
James B. Billys, M.D., is course director. While he continues Tony Castellvi’s passion for education, debate and innovation, he is also putting his own stamp on the meeting.
This year’s meeting will feature a cadaver lab, debates in the form of point counterpoint presentations, new faculty including neurosurgeons and grants for residents to attend. Indeed, about 30% of the faculty is new.
Dr. Billys is the Affiliate Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida and is Director, Spine Fellowship at the Florida Orthopaedic Institute in Tampa.
The meeting is still in one of the best venues going for a small course—Duck Key, which is about midway between Miami and Key West.
In picking up the mantle from Dr. Castellvi, Dr. Billys hoped to build on the educational strengths of the meeting while also adding quite a few new speakers and bringing a strong emphasis on clinical problem solving.
The highlight, in addition to the cadaver labs, may well be the point counterpoint debates.
The Program
As the “Duck Key” meeting famously does, this year’s program also kicks off with a solid discussion of biomechanics, but then quickly transitions to debates featuring some of the most experienced surgeons in the country.
Here are the two debates:
- L4-5 Spondylolisthesis with
- Neel Anand, , M.D., M.Ch. discussing Lateral Transpsoas and
- Jean-Jacques Abitbol M.D., FRCSC taking on TLIF (Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion.)
- Lumbar Facet Cyst with
- William Welch M.D. discussing 1o fusion and
- Scott Webb, M.D. taking on Laminectomy
Cadaver Labs
Each day’s educational sessions end with cadaver labs.
At the end of the Thursday sessions, the cadaver labs will cover OLIF (Oblique Lumbar Interbody Fusion) and L5. At the end of the Friday sessions, the cadaver lab will cover cervical TDR (total disc replacement) and cortical screws.
So, after a morning of deep-diving into the anatomy of L4-5 and L5-S1 fusion, expandable cage technology, osteoporosis and 2nd fractures, planning sagittal coronal balance, anterior reconstruction, complications with deformity and prevention of junctional kyphosis—attendees can top the morning off with a cadaver lab!
Lunch, then it’s swimming, fishing or just relaxing in the Florida Keys.
That’s Day One.
On Day Two, the morning opens with a discussion of the cellular biologics of the spine, clinical experience with past and present clinical trials, current evidence on cellular biologics and future directions in biologics. Then ANOTHER cadaver lab!
Lunch, swimming, fishing and relaxing.
It really does not get much better than this.
The Faculty
Among the speakers are faculty and department chairs from the following teaching institutions:
- Hospital for Special Surgery, New York
- University of South Florida
- University of Miami
- Duke University
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
- University of California San Francisco
- University of Georgia
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of California San Diego
- Brown University
- The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
- Texas Back Institute
- University of Pennsylvania
- Drexel University College of Medicine
- New York University
Course Objectives
Surgeons and non-operative clinicians who attend can expect to leave having achieved the following objectives:
- Assess and Critique emerging techniques in comparison to current treatment options
- Discuss biomechanics in both cervical and lumbar spine and how fusion affects motion
- Understand the use of minimally invasive surgical approach in spine surgery
- Employ useful surgical techniques to avoid complications in spine surgery
- Demonstrate concepts learned in robotic spine technology
- Apply decision making strategies for complex cervical and lumbar degenerative disc
What Makes the Duck Key Meeting Unique
The Duck Key meeting is a small meeting—meaning that all attendees and presenters have the luxury of time and availability. What makes it unique is the focus on education and follow through in the form of many opportunities to discuss topics with some of the leading researchers and surgeons in the U. S. Want more discussion of MIS or complications or biologics or biomechanics? Here are the experts with plenty of time to review and discuss.
Then there is the venue. The Florida Keys and family friendly Hawks Cay Resort.
Hawks Cay
Hawks Cay is a luxury resort that is also an outstanding family vacation destination. Pictures do not do the resort justice. Located midway down the Florida Keys on the tropical 60-acre island of Duck Key, the area offers some of the world’s best fishing; exciting water sports; dolphin interaction programs; a saltwater lagoon; five gorgeous swimming pools; and a variety of luxurious accommodations, including guest rooms, suites and villas.
So, for all of these reasons, I’ve always recommended the Duck Key meeting. This year, more than any other, I heartily encourage all of our readers—surgeons, nurses, tech, sales people and physicians who deal with back pain—to come to Duck Key on May 7 and experience one of the most rewarding small meetings in spine.
For more information and to register, go to this website: https://www.foreonline.org/2015-castellvi-spine.
