THE JAN PALFIJN SYMPOSIA In 1979 the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Jan Palfijn Hospital in Merksem, Antwerp, celebrated its 25th Anniver sary. To mark the occasion, the first symposium was organized, the theme chosen being hysteroscopy. Thanks to the cooperation of specialists from both within and outside Belgium the event attracted such a large attendance that it was decided to follow up this first venture with others. In the light of the experience gained from the first symposium, we established the Jan Palfijn Foundation for Gynaecological and Obstetrical Didactics, the reasons for this being budgetary and, in particular, organizational. This approach made it possible to attract the cooperation of enthusiastic fellow workers from outside the hospital on a permanent or ad hoc basis and hence to reach a much wider group of experts in all fields, both at home and abroad. In 1981 the second symposium was held at the Jan Palfijn Hospital, the topic being echography in obstetrics and gynaecology. Almost all of the Belgian universities were represented and papers were presented by confreres from practically all of the EEC countries. When the third symposium was held, in 1982, again on hysteroscopy, the speakers and audience could literally hardly be squeezed into the Jan Palfijn Hospital's facilities. The fourth symposium was accordingly organized in the modern, luxurious facilities of the new administration building of the Antwerp Provincial Authority."

Because of increasing worldwide interest in the subject, a decision was made to coordinate the papers presented at the First European Symposium on Hysteroscopy, held in Antwerp, Belgium, in September 1982, into a text on hysteroscopy, including its indications, techniques, and complications. The Organising Committee called on Dr. Louis G. Keith of Northwestern University, Chicago, illinois USA, to edit all of the papers and to prepare them for publication as a multi-author textbook rather than as a haphazard collection of the proceedings of a meeting. Dr. Keith also supervised the many details of preparing the manuscript for publication, including the task of copy editing. The speakers at the Symposium were all eminent European hysteroscopists; the most up-to-date information was presented, assuring the current nature of the scientific data. By way of introduction (Part I), a historical survey of the development of hysteroscopy is presented. The material is then divided into several parts. Part II concerns the technical aspects of hysteroscopy. Part m includes the different clinical applications of hysteroscopy. Part IV concerns special applications of hysteroscopy, and the Conclusion (Part V) contains the remarks of two distinguished American guests. Dr. Alvin M. Siegler presented a special lecture on Jan Palfijn (Chapter 29), and Dr. Louis G. Keith was asked to discuss the relationship between art and medicine at a banquet at the Rubens Mansion in Antwerp (Chapter 30).