Dear Friends and Colleages, we are pleased to present the Society´s 15th Newsletter.
Without a past, there is no future: the ESNCH can look back on a long and eventful history and that will assure a prosperous future. Presently, the ESNCH is the most successful neurosonology group in the world with the number one forum for the transfer of new ideas. Our members define the neurovascular standards in Europe and beyond. Furthermore the officers of our Society have strong ties with other important european neurological Societies, such as the EFNS and the European Stroke Council, which makes the ESNCH solid and influential. It supports the International Congress on Neurosonology and Cerebral Dynamics which is held annually and a Residential Training Course in Neurosonology which is held every two years across Europe. The advantages for our members are very manifold: they get the latest news and the highest level of Knowledge on the clinical meaning of ultrasound in acute and chronic cerebrovascular diseases, as well as clinically relevant application of Neurosonology in the fields of movement disorders and peripheral neuropathies. Our society is an excellent forum for young researchers to present their work and to gain experience, since the members of the ESNCH represent a medical elite. There is an additional value for sonographers, namely the exchange of knowledge and teh potential scientific collaboration that goes beyond the clinical routine.
Thanks to our Webmaster, Prof. L. Klingelhöfer, the website of our Society has now a totally new graphic design, much more flexible than before, so that we can modify its contents, according to the ideas of our members. The first reactions to this newly designed website have been very positive.
Graphical material (e.g. pictures, photos) of the last 15 years from different events and happenings of the ESNCH are very much appreciated; please send your pictures via e-mail to the following address: neurologie@skc.de
Last year´s main event was the 16th Meeting of our Society which took place in Munich, Germany, from the 20th to the 23rd of May 2011. Munich represented a special city, because it was the site of the very first ESNCH Conference. Prof. Eva Bartels and her team were able to organize a superb meeting, which reflected the current established applications of ultrasound and the basic studies in neurosonology. The scientific success was determined by the work of more than 400 participants coming from 51 countries; there were almost 200 poster presentations, lectures and oral presentations. It was also a great pleasure to congratulate 16 colleagues, who passed the International Certification in Neurosonology, and the 3 winners of the Poster-Prizes.
Selected presentations of the meeting, edited by Prof. E. Bartels, will form the basis of the book “New Trends in Cerebral Hemodynamics and Neurosonology”, which will be published in 2012 by Elsevier.
The ESNCH Promotes scientific research, education and training all over Europe; for example we gave our support to: the TCCS course in Berlin, annually organized by Prof. J.M. Valdueza ans S. Schreiber; the Stroke Summer School, a yearly meeting organized in Dubrovnik by Prof. Vida Demarin; the Summer School of Neurosonology, a three-day course that is held yearly at the end of June in Zadar (Croatia), organized by Professor Branko Malojcic and Zsolt Garami.
Our Society continues to cooperate very successfully with the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS): next september, within the 16th EFNS Congress in Stockholm (Sweden) www.efns2012.efns.org , there will be a Neurosonology course held by our faculty. Similarly, in cooperation with the organizing comittee of the European Stroke Conference (ESC), we have organized a joint symposium for the upcoming 21st ESC in Lisboa (Portugal) www.eurostroke.org
This year the pivotal event of our Society will be the 17th Meeting of the ESNCH that will take place in Venice (Italy) from the 17th to the 20th of May 2012. Professors Claudio Baracchini and Giorgio Meneghetti of the Department of Neurological Sciences of the University of Padua will be the Conference Chairman and Co-Chairman, respectively. Venice once more will be the center of the neurosonological world. In fact, the fourth meeting of the ESNCH took place at the “Fondzione Cini” on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, just across the lagoon and opposite to Piazza San Marco. It was impeccably organized by our beloved Elietta Zanett, one of the most committed Italian pioneers in neurosonology, which was her main field of study until the very end of her life. As part of the mission of the ESNCH, the meeting will also offer basic and advanced teaching courses on Doppler- and duplex ultrasonography of cerebral vessels and, during the tutorials, delegates will be given the possibility to gain the International Certificate in Neurosonology. We are certain that in addition to participating to the conference you will be enchanted by this unique city. For all details, you can visit the meeting website: www.neurosonology2012.it
The ESNCH encourages all members to actively support implementation of ultrasound in local stroke programs and to send to our webmaster, Prof. J. Klingelhöfer (neurologie@skc.de), announcements of upcoming events and conference reports for publication on our website: www.esnch.org
We also invite all our members to send their e-mail address to our treasurer Matthias.Sturzenegger@insel.ch and to our secretary claudiobaracchini@tin.it in order to be kept updated on all current ESNCH activities.
We wish you all a very successful year and we are looking forward to seeing you in Venice.
Warm regards,
L. Csiba
President of the ESNCH
C. Baracchini
Secretary of the ESNCH
