Dear Friends and Colleagues, we are pleased to present the Society’s 18th Newsletter.
As the most successful neurosonology group in the world, the ESNCH is strongly connected to the pan-european scientific community. 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, next June within the EFNS-ENS Joint Congress of European Neurology in Istanbul (Turkey), there will be a Neurosonology course held by our faculty. The ESNCH supports the annual International Conference on Neurosonology and CerebraI Hemodynamics held in changing European countries and the Residential Training Course in Neurosonology which is held every two years across Europe. These events have set high scientific standards, positioning these reunions as the hallmark location to discuss neurosonology, bringing together 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 weIl as clinically relevant applications of Neurosonology in the fields of movement disorders and peripheral neuropathies. Overall, our meetings represent the number one forum for the transfer of new ideas and an excellent platform for young researchers to present their work, gain experience and start a scientific collaboration.
Last year’s main event was the 18th Meeting of the ESNCH that took place in Porto (Portugal) from the 24th to the 27th of May 2013. It was a successful conference both scientifically and socially, thanks to a very charming Meeting Chair, Professor Eisa Azevedo (President of the Portuguese Society ofNeursonology), her very experienced co-chair Professor Victor Oliveira (organizer ofthe 2001 ESNCH conference in Lisbon), and their team of young volunteers (medical students, residents, but also family members). The meeting hosted over 400 participants from 47 countries and 5 continents promoting active discussion throughout more than 30 hours of neurosonological science. All participants contributed to the success of this conference with their scientific work: 110 poster presentations, 29 invited lectures, 43 oral presentations. In addition, both basic and advanced teaching courses with 13 tutorial lectures were very weIl attended: 50 and 70 participants, respectively. Besides the traditional tutorial and scientific sessions, some ofthe particularities ofthe conference were the 3rd Cerebral Autoregulation Network Meeting, the symposium on “Multimodal monitoring of the neurocritical care patient” and an interactive session on “Pitfalls and interesting cases in neurosonology”. Forty-one delegates were also given the opportunity to test their knowledge and skills in the International Certification Examination in Neurosonology: congratulations to those 8 who passed the exam! Finally, as a consolidated tradition of our Society which continues to promote scientific research education and training, awards were given to the best 3 oral presentations, to the best 4 poster presentations and to the best presentation by a Japanese researcher in memory of Professor Furuhata. All participants in addition to attending the conference were also offered a warm hospitality, namely with the social relaxing evening programs, at the beach, at Port wine cellars, and on a boat along the tip of Rio Douro.
Another important scientific event for our Society was the 3rd International Training Course in Neurosonology, which was held in Portoroz (Slovenia) from the 12th to the 14th of September 2013. The President of the course was Professor Bojana ZYan. On the beautiful Adriatic coast, attendees from many European countries had the privilege to participate in lectures and discussions held by world’s leaders in the field of neurosonology. Several topics were discussed, starting from basic neurosonology to diagnosing complex neurological pathology by means of ultrasound. All participants had the opportunity to better their skills with the help of our very qualified trainers, especially during the hands-on sessions.
The main event of 2014 will be the 19th ESNCH Conference that will take place in Rome (Italy) from the 10th to the 13th of May 2014. Roma – the eternal city, “to which all the streets lead” needs very few words of presentation. In every big road, as weil as in the small alleys, you will be surprised of the richness of its monumental history, from which you will feel completely embedded. Not only the history , but also the colours of the sunsets, the typical small appetizing restaurants in the narrow streets of the historical center will project you in an extremely romantic environment. Professors Marina Diomedi and Edoardo Vicenzini will be the Meeting Chairs and will assure a very high scientific standard to the conference. As a tradition, the ESNCH meeting will offer basic and advanced teaching courses on Doppler- and duplex ultrasonography of cerebral vessels. During the tutorials, delegates will be encouraged to have a very close cooperation with the experts in order to bring home an unforgettable practical experience, and they will be given the possibility to gain the International Certificate in Neurosonology. For details, you can visit the meeting website: www.neurosonology2014.it
The ESNCH defines the neurovascular standards in Europe and beyond, and an important part of its mission is to continue promoting scientific research, education and training all over Europe. This year we gave our support to: l. the TCCS course in Berlin, annually organized by Professors J.M. Valdueza and S. Schreiber; 2. the Stroke Summer School, a yearly meeting organized in Dubrovnik by Prof. Vida Demarin; 3. the Summer School of Neurosonology for Baltic and Scandinavian countries organized by Professor Dalius Jatuzis. 4. 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, who will be the Chairman ofthe 2015 ESNCH Conference.
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 Rome.
Warm regards,
N.M. Bornstein
President of the ESNCH
C. Baracchini
Secretary of the ESNCH
