Book excerpt: The Third International Symposium on Inflammatory Bowel Diseases was held in Jerusalem during September 10-13, 1989. Four hundred physicians and scientists from 25 countries attended the meeting. The symposium was organized into five panels devoted to state of the art reviews of the latest findings and approaches on the etiology, pathogenesis, metabolic implications, clinical assessment of disease activity and the medical management of IBD. Several issues were discussed in debate form. The last panel was dedicated to discussion of three patients with computer assisted active participation of all the attendants. In addition, 03 abstracts were presented as posters, all of which were published in the Book of Abstracts. The organizing committee gratefully acknowledges the contributors who presented their work in clear and concise manner and the participants, whose active part in the discussions contributed to the success of the meeting. The Jerusalem International symposium on Inflammatory Bowel Diseases has become a tradition that will continue with the Fourth Symposium to be convened in September 1993. Joseph Zimmerman, M.D. Daniel Rachmi1ewitz, M.D. LIST OF FIRST AUTHORS Theodore M. Bayless, Michael J. Langman, Johns Hopkins University Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland. Birmingham, England. Michael D. Blackstone, J.E. Lennard-Jones, University of Chicago, St. Mark's Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. City Road, London, England. Charles O. Elson, Division of Gastroenterology, James Lee Madara, The University of Alabama Department of Pathology, at Birmingham, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Birmingham, Alabama. Boston, Massachusetts.