Dear Friends and Colleagues, we are pleased to present the Society`s 16th Newsletter.
The ESNCH continues to be the most successful neurosonology group in the world withn the number one forum for the transfer of new ideas, defining the neurovascular standards in Europe and beyond. Our Society ongly connected to the pan-european scientific community, as a result of that we collaborate with the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS), the Neurosonology Research Group (NSRG) and the European Stroke Council (ESC). As an example of this collaboration, last September within the 16th EFNS Congress in Stockholm (Sweden), there was a Neurosonology course held by our faculty. The ESNCH supports the International Congress on Neurosonology and Cerebral Hemodynamics which is held in annually changing European countries and a Residential Training Course in Neurosonology, which is held every two years across Europe. These events have set high scientific standards, positionong these reunions as the hallmark location to discuss neurosonology, bringing the world`s experts in investigating cerebral hemodynamics. The advantages for our members are numerous: in a familiar atmosphere, 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 applications of Neurosonology in the fields of movement disorders and peripheral neuropathies. But above all, our meetings represent an excellent forum for young researchers to present their work, gain experience and start a scientific collaboration.
Last year`s main event was the 17th Meeting of the which took place in the beautiful Venice (Italy) from May 17th to 20th 2012 and was organized by Chairman Claudio Baracchini and Co-Chairman Giorgio Meneghetti from the Department of Neuroscience of the University of Padua School of Medicine. Venice was once again the center of the neurosonological world, after the 4th ESNCH meeting impeccably organized by our beloved Elietta Zanette in 1999. Twenty exhibitors/sponsors and more than 450 participants from over 40 countries contributed to the success of this conference with their scientific work: 97 poster presentations, 43 invited lectures, 36 oral presentations. It was also a great pleasure to congratulate the 4 winners of the poster prizes and the 10 colleagues who passed the Examination for the International Certification in Neurosonology.
As part of its mission, the ESNCH continues to promote scientific research, education and training all over Europe. This year we gave our support to: 1. the TCCS course in Berlin, annually organized by Professors J.M. Valdueza and S. Schreiber; 2. the Stroke Summer School, a yearla meeting organized in Dubrovnik by Prof. Vida Demarin; 3. the Summer School of Neurosonology, a three-day course that is held yearly at the end of June in Zadar (Croatia), organized by Professors Branko Malojcic and Zsolt Garami; 4. the Summer School of Neurosonology for Baltic and Scandinavian countries and the 17th Nordic Stroke Congress, organized by Professor Dalius Jatuzis.
This year the 18th Meeting of the ESNCH will take place in Porto (Portugal) from the 24th to the 27th of May 2013. At teh tip of Rio Douro, the hilly city of Porto presents a jumble of styles, eras and attitudes: narrow medieval alleyways, extravagant baroque churches and prim little squares in a Unesco World Heritage zone lined with stately beaux-arts edifices that will surely please you. Furthermore, the world famous heritage of Port Wine and two recent masterworks, Alvaro Siza Vieira`s Museu de Arte Contemporânea and Rem Koolhaas` Casa da Musica as crowning glories of the town make this venue suitable to host such a prestigious event. Professor Elsa Azevedo, President of the Portuguese Society of Neurosonology, will be the Meeting Chair and 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. For details, you can visit the meeting website: www.neurosonology2013.pt.
Another important scientific event for our Society will be the 3rd International Training Course. A few years ago we launched a summer school training program: the 1st edition took place in Bertinoro (Italy) in September 2008; the 2nd “training camp” was held in Dubrovnik (Croatia) in September 2010. The 3rd course will be held in Portoroz (Slovenia): September 12-14, 2013. The President of the meeting will be Professor Bojana Zvan. On the beautiful Adriatic coast, attendees from all around the world will have the privilege to participate in lectures and discussions held by world`s leaders in the field of neurosonology. It will be a great opportunity for young colleagues to better their skills with the help of our very qualified trainers. The course will be held over three days, with lectures and hands-on sessions; diverse topics will be discussed, starting from basic neurosonology to diagnosing complex neurologocal pathology by means of ultrasound. More enthusiastic participants will test their knowledge by taking the exam for the International Certificate in Neurosonology and become certified teachers.
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 Porto.
Warm regards,
L. Csiba
President
C. Baracchini
Secretary