As early as 150 years ago, it was established that pathological occurrence of blood clot or thrombosis is due to changes in vascular wall, blood flow and blood content. Still, considerable effort had to be made through history in order for the
As early as 150 years ago, it was established that pathological occurrence of blood clot or thrombosis is due to changes in vascular wall, blood flow and blood content. Still, considerable effort had to be made through history in order for the thrombosis to be accepted as a specific entity that entails investigations and clinical studies. Until 1960’s, scientists were chiefly focused on investigating hemorrhage, with very few studies of the factors and mechanisms responsible for the occurrence of thrombosis that was actually more complex and less known (1-3). Accordingly, there was practically no society worldwide to gather researchers investigating this entity.
In such circumstances, after her return in 1967 from internship at the National Blood Transfusion Center in Paris, dr. Jasone Monasterio organized in Bilbao the first Spanish-French symposium on hemorrhagic syndromes and thromboembolic diseases with support of dr. Jose Antonio Iriarte, Institute of Procardíacos. The principal idea was to gather leading French and Spanish scientists in hemostasis, angiology and cardiology, and other fields related to thrombosis. The symposium discussed hypercoagulability as a biological and clinical syndrome, as a potential cause of venous thromboembolism, then risk factors for myocardial infarction and its sociological effects, control of anticoagulant therapy, and conditions of hyperfibrinolysis. A protocol for diagnosis and treatment of thromboembolism was established and agreement was reached to organize biannual gatherings of scientists in this and related fields. It was also agreed that experts from other Mediterranean countries should be invited to future meetings.
The symposium was actually the beginning of the idea about founding the Mediterranean League against Thromboembolic Diseases (MLTD), one of the first organizations to bring together basic scientists and specialists, clinicians interested in thrombosis and hemostasis.
The following meeting was held again in Bilbao in October 1969 as the 1st Mediterranean Congress on Thromboembolism where the League was officially founded. During the Congress, General Assembly was held and the League by-laws were adopted, while Dr. Jose Antonio Iriarte, one of its founding members, was appointed the first General secretary of the League. The following countries were original members of the League: Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Israel, Spain and Turkey. According to its Statute, the League was established for scientific and educational purposes, with the goal of promoting research of the pathogenesis of thromboembolic diseases, their prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and thus of providing overall better care of patients. In order to ensure exchange of results and experience, it was agreed that International Thrombosis Congress (ITC) was to be organized every other year in one of the member countries, with symposia in years in between. Accordingly, the following three congresses were held in countries that were among the League founders, and in the same order that their members were appointed as Councillors: in 1971 in Instanbul, Turkey, in 1973 in Tel Aviv, Israel, and in 1976 in Athens, Greece. During the first decade of its activity, another four countries from different Mediterranean regions became members of the League: Egypt, Tunisia, and Yugoslavia in 1971, and Rumania in 1973 (3,4).
After the 5th ITC that was held in Bologna in 1978, the League strengthened its position during the following ten years as an international scientific society in the field of thromboembolic diseases. Based on intense interest in attending such meetings and on their high scientific rating, the founding Councillors suggested that MLTD be registered as a scientific society in the National Registry of Associations in Spain, which was implemented in 1980. At the IT congresses to follow, organized in Monte Carlo (1980), Valencia (1982), Istanbul (1984), Jerusalem (1986) and Athens (1988), an ever increasing number of attendees was recorded from all over the world, as well as of leading international experts in the field of thrombosis as lecturers. In that period, collaboration was established with associations worldwide that were active in similar scientific and clinical fields as, for instance, Latin-American cooperative association for hemostasis and thrombosis (Grupo Cooperativo Latino Americano de Hemostasia y Trombosis, CLAHT), European Thrombosis Research Organisation (ETRO), Danubian League against Thrombosis and Haemorrhagic Disorders, and with national societies for thrombosis and hemostasis in countries that were the League members. Particularly intense collaboration was achieved with International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH). ISTH participates in organization of MLTD courses, and annual meetings of the MLTD Executive Board are held during ISTH congresses (3,4).
Due to increased international success in the third decade after its fo