The 8th international research symposium on the Marfan syndrome and related conditions.

In the nearly quarter-century since the first international symposium on Marfan syndrome, enormous progress has been achieved in clinical, translational, and basic research. The 8th symposium, at the end of 2010, provides a useful summary of the current status of investigations, reveals why life-expectancy has improved so markedly during the past 30 years, and lays out a clear path for future endeavors, not only in Marfan syndrome, but in the expanding array of conditions related either through phenotype or pathogenesis.