EFNS NEWSLETTER - eaneurology.org · continuing medical education 11 ©European Federation of...

Published by EFNS Head Offi ce , Breite Gasse 4, 1070 Vienna, Austria, Tel.: +43 1 889 05 03, Fax: +43 1 889 05 03 13, E-mail: headoffi [email protected]

EFNS NEWSLETTERNO. 4 2011

2012

ALPINE BRAIN IMAGING MEETING

January 8–12, 2012Champéry , Switzerland

[email protected] http://labnic.unige.ch/ABIM/

8TH ANNUAL UPDATE SYMPOSIUM ON CLINICAL

NEUROLOGY & NEURO PHYSIOLOGY

February 22–23, 2012Tel Aviv, Israel

[email protected] http://www.neurophysiology-

symposium.com

DEUTSCHE GESELLSCHAFT FÜR EPILEPTOLOGIE - DGFE-TAGUNG

2012February 29–March 03 2012

Stuttgart, Germany

[email protected]://www.epilepsie2012.de/

1ST INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON HEART AND BRAIN – ICHB

2012March 1–3, 2012

Paris, France

[email protected]/Heart-

Brain2012/

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NEUROPE NEWS 2EFNS BUDAPEST 2011 4GUIDELINE AUDIT PROGRAMME 7REGIONAL TEACHING COURSES 7EFNS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME 8NEWS FROM EAYNT 10NEWS FROM EANO 11CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION 11

©European Federation of Neurological Societies 2011. Permission is given to reproduce the text of any informati-on found in this newsletter as long as the sense is not distorted by omission or addition and the original place of publication is cited.

IN THIS ISSUE

Richard Hughes, President of the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS), opened the Congress welcoming the partici-pants and thanking the Hungarian Neuro-logical Society for inviting us to their beautiful capital city of Budapest straddling the Danube. He recalled that Hungary had produced No-bel Prize winners, Szent-Györgyi (vitamin C) and von Békésy (cochlear function), and many famous neurologists including Karl Schaffer, the father of Hungarian neurology and Dezs’ Miskolczy, his successor.

The Congress would include a strong programme organised by the Congress Pro-gramme Committee chaired by Professor Nils Erik Gilhus, Norway, and the Teaching

WELCOMING ADDRESS EFNS BUDAPEST

by Richard Hughes, EFNS President

Course Committee chaired by Jean-Marc Léger. One of many highlights would be the prestigious EFNS Clinical Lecture to be given by Professor Angela Vincent, UK, on the antibody mediated neurological disorders which she has done so much to unravel and for which she had recently been honoured by the prestigious award of Fellowship of the Royal Society in the UK. The EFNS was pleased to have been able to offer fi nancial support to 200 young investigators to provide them with bursaries to attend the Congress.

The EFNS congresses provide an important forum for its committees to meet and conduct their business. This includes the scientist pan-els and guideline task forces who launch at

THIS IS THE LAST ISSUE OF THE PRINTED EFNS NEWSLETTER. WE WISH TO ALL OF YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 AND ESPECIALLY A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO NEUROPENEWS THAT WILL GO ONLINE IN JANUARY. FOR DETAILS PLEASE SEE PAGE 2

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6TH WORLD CONGRESS ON CONTROVERSIES IN

NEURO LOGY (CONY)March 8–11, 2012

Vienna, Austria

[email protected] http://comtecmed.com/

cony/2012/

10TH ÖGN ANNUAL CONGRESSMarch 14–17, 2012

Graz, Austria

[email protected]/kongress2012

9TH WORLD CONGRESS ON BRAIN INJURY

March 21–25, 2012Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

[email protected]

this Congress the second volume of the new edition of the European Handbook of Neuro-logical Management including 22 new or up-dated guidelines. These guidelines are freely available at www.efns.org and are there for the guidance of the wise neurologist rather than our unthinking obedience. Providing a mixture of evidence based recommendations and inter-national European expert opinion, they should be a useful resource across the continent and even outside.

A new venture also to be launched at this Congress is eBrain. This is the result of a col-laboration between the British Joint Neuro-science Council, the EFNS and the European Neurological Society (ENS) led by an edito-rial board of Simon Shorvon (UK), Simon Thomson (UK), Thomas Berger (Austria) and Hannah Cock (UK). It includes more than 500 sessions mostly on neurology but also including neurosurgery and allied spe-cialities. The sessions have been edited by a British and EFNS or ENS editor and the authors are a mixture of specialists from all three organisations. The eBrain programme is freely available via the EFNS website to all EFNS members. We invite you to use it and to feed back your thoughts to the edi-tors so that it can be continually edited and improved.

The most important political event at this Congress is the signing of the agreement be-tween the EFNS and the ENS. This was fore-shadowed at the EFNS congress in Florence in 2009 when exchanged neckties became a symbol of the Treaty of Florence by which the two organisations agreed to work together. Since then a Transition Task Force, consist-ing of the past-Presidents Professor Jacques de Reuck and Professor José Ferro, the Sec-retaries General of the EFNS, Professor Detlef Kömpf, and ENS, Professor Gustave Moonen, and two othe rs, Professors Gunhild

Waldemar for the EFNS and Claudio Bas-setti for the ENS, have been meeting regu-larly to draw up a legally binding agreement. According to this agreement, from 2015 the activities of the EFNS and ENS shall be ac-complished exclusively by a new organisation, the European Academy of Neurology (EAN). Until then the EFNS and ENS appoint the Transition Task Force of the EAN to work out the practical details enabling this goal. In the interim the Council of the EFNS and the Executive Committee of the ENS have agreed to advance the programme by one year. This will mean that there will be a joint meeting of the EFNS and the ENS in Istanbul in 2014 when the Board of the EAN will be elected and the fi rst meeting of the new EAN will be held in Germany in 2015.

Professor Hughes paid special tribute to the two Belgians who more than anyone else had initiated the process of agreement which was so much wanted by members of both organisa-tions, Professors Jacques de Reuck and Gustave Moonen.

At the conclusion of his address Professor Hughes invited the President of the ENS, Professor Zohar Argov, the Secretary General of the ENS Professor Gustave Moonen and the Secretary General of the EFNS Professor Detlef Kömpf to join him on the rostrum to sign the agreement.

NEUROPENEWS

Gustave Moonen Jacques L. De Reuck

On 1 January 2012 the new EFNS online mag-azine NEUROPENEWS will go online www.neuropenews.efns.org.

NEUROPENEWS will be available free of charge for everybody. Interaction with the edi-tors and authors as well as other users will be possible for registered users.

NEUROPENEWS will be updated on a regular basis and a complete new issue will be available on the 1st of each month. If you are already on the EFNS mailing list, you will automatically receive an e-mail including information on the latest issue.

You will be able to subscribe NEUROPE-NEWS RSS-feeds, get information on new articles and follow the forum discussions by subscribing to NEUROPENEWS, get latest information via Facebook and Twitter.

This new magazine was developed and will be maintained by Gian Luigi Lenzi, editor, and David B. Vodušek, co-editor together with EFNS Head Offi ce.

NEUROPENEWS will include 7 sections, of which 4 will be completely new, includ-ing discussions, interviews, information from opinion leaders...

Invitation to contribute to NEUROPENEWS top 12 by Gian Luigi LenziBeginning in January 2012, the EFNS newsletter, now NEUROPENEWS, will begin the monthly publication of the abstract of the neurological


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INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON NEUROLOGY AND

EPIDEMIOLOGY (ICNE)March 22–25, 2012

Seville, Spain

[email protected] http://www.neuro-conference.

com/2012/

2ND INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON EPILEPSY, BRAIN AND MIND

March 29–31, 2012Prague, Czech Republic

[email protected]

64TH AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY ANNUAL MEETING

April 21–April 28, 2012New Orleans, LA, USA

[email protected] Website http://www.aan.

com/go/m12

paper, published in the year 2009, that has re-ceived the largest number of quotation during the year 2010. Since EFNS is organized in Sci-entifi c Panels, one paper per panel will be se-lected. A comment on this paper will accompany the abstract publication, kindly provided by the Panel-leader of the related Scientifi c Panel.

We have named this NEUROPENEWS Section as the “TOP 12”, and we wish to re-ceive the comments, criticisms, opinions of the neurologist reading NEUROPENEWS on this paper (or on the paper published in the previous months).

Contributions will be edited by Prof. Gian Luigi Lenzi, with the help of the Co-Editor Prof. David B. Vodušek and the External As-sociate Editor Prof. Richard S. Frackowiak

NEUROPENEWS interviewsby Gian Luigi Lenzi

From January 2012 on, the EFNS newslet-ter, now NEUROPENEWS, will begin the monthly publication of interviews and/or “col-loquia” with Opinion Leaders operating within or outside neurological borders, but in close connection with the EFNS objectives, per-spectives and goals. These INTERVIEWS are designed to give to our readers a deeper knowledge on the kind of work and activities that are running on in International Organisa-tions, such as WHO, in Professional focused Scientifi c Societies, and so on.

Invitation to contribute to NEUROPENEWS Grand Rounds

by David B. Vodušek

As you know grand rounds are formal hospital meetings at which physicians discuss (inter-esting) patients. Typically they involve formal presentations by physicians of clinical cases, more often than not as yet not completely solved. Grand Rounds offer an opportunity for discussion, which can be relevant for further management of the particular patient.

We are certain that unsolved problems related to patients arise in your daily routine. We would like to propose to have such cases discussed in our NEUROPENEWS Grand rounds.

We invite written presentations of such cases (history, physical signs), accompanied by already obtained results of investigations. Photo or video of the patient (clearly show-ing some aspect of the clinical picture), as well as original electrophysiological testing results, imaging etc., are welcome. (Case presentations should be accompanied by a declaration, that consent has been obtained. As a rule patients should be unrecognizable on imaging material (blurring of faces can be done by us).

Contributions will be edited by Profes-sors David B. Vodušek, co-edited by Gian Luigi Lenzi and Richard Frackowiak. Helpful comments for the case will be invited from the relevant EFNS scientifi c panels. Further comments from around Europe should make the NEUROPENEWS Grand rounds inter-

esting for all European neurologists and par-ticularly neurologists in training.

Invitation to contribute to NEUROPENEWS forumby David B. Vodušek

We are offering an open forum for neurologi-cal agenda arising from daily practice of neu-rology, educating (or receiving education) in neurology, research in neurology, working or clashing with other specialities, confrontations with bureaucracies…

We invite you to either contribute your own observation, commentary or story, or else sug-gest a particular hot topic, which you think should be elaborated further.

We shall invite members of the EFNS Com-mittees, Scientifi c panels, particularly chairper-sons, but also other leading neurologist across Europe to give their opinion.

The fi rst hot topic that we will tackle in NEU-ROPENEWS Forum is the cost of brain dis-eases. The results of this most relevant research project have been recently published in Euro-pean Neuropsychopharmacology 2011, Oct; 21(10):718-79 (http://europeanbraincouncil.org/projects/CDBE/2010/), and we shall seek the opinions and comments of eminent neu-rologists (and other eminent Europeans) to publish them in the Forum. We hope this will instigate also some remarks from you, and we shall be happy to publish them.

All registered users will be able – and we cor-dially invite you to do so! – to comment on the information and opinion provided in the ar-ticles, especially within the “Top 12”, “Grand Rounds” and “Forum”.

Anonymous comments will not be possible and the full name of the user will be shown to-gether with his/her comment. Users, who are not members of the EFNS, will also be able to write such comments, but please understand that these messages will be edited before pub-lication and it might take up to 2 working days until those can be published.

If you do have ideas for articles/topics that should be discussed within the “Forum”, or have an interesting/ diffi cult case that you wish to be discussed in the “Grand Round”, please send it to Ms. Sander ([email protected]).

Since all information will be published online only, it will be possible to include videos and photos. We will contact you before any of the information provided by you will be published.

When logged in to the EFNS website you will be automatically logged in to NEUROPENEWS; if you should face any technical problems with commenting, logging in, etc., please contact [email protected].

Remember:

CONTRIBUTE UNSOLVED NEURO-LOGICAL PATIENT PROBLEMS TO EFNS GRAND ROUNDS!

THE NEUROPENEWS FORUM IS OPEN FOR YOUR DISCUSSION!


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8TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MENTAL DYSFUNCTION &

OTHER NON-MOTOR FEATURES IN PARKINSOSN’S DISEASES

May 3–6, 2012Berlin, Germany

[email protected] http://www2.kenes.com/

MDPD2012/pages/home.aspx

7TH BALTIC CONGRESS OF NEUROLOGY – BALCONE

May 9–12, 2012Tartu, Estonia

[email protected] www.balcone2012.ee

EFNS ACADEMY – SPRING SCHOOL FOR YOUNG

NEUROLOGISTSMay 10–13, 2012

Staré Splavy

http://www.efns.org/EFNS-Academy-2012.255.0.html

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GREETINGS FROM BUDAPEST

by László Vécsei

Dear Colleagues,

The 15th Congress of EFNS has been orga-nized in the capital city of Hungary. Budapest is the largest and one of the most beautiful cit-ies in our country. Moreover, Hungarians are proud of scientists, like the Nobel Prize winners Albert Szent-Györgyi, György Békésy and Robert Bárány who had Hungarian descents.

There have been about 5000 participants from 104 countries of the world.

The opening ceremony took place in the Ple-nary Hall at Hungexpo. Richard Hughes (EFNS President), László Vécsei (Chairperson Local Arrangement Committee) and Nils Erik Gilhus (Chairperson Congress Programme Commit-tee) gave welcoming words. After this, a dance performance by The Varidance Company Artists was introduced together with a welcome dinner.

In the scientifi c programme 12 main topics, 16 short communications, 26 teaching courses, 12 satellite symposiums (supported by pharma-ceutical companies), 12 special sessions and 15 focused workshops have been presented from various parts of neurology like epilepsy, stroke, vertigo, multiple sclerosis, neuromuscular dis-orders, headache, etc. The lectures represent-ed different levels from basic neuroscience to clinical neurology. In the two poster sessions a high number of posters were presented.

We remember not only the scientifi c part of the congress, but also the social event organized

at the Budapest Market Hall in the centre of the city. These occasions are good to meet and talk with neurologists from Europe and all around the world.

In summary, it was an excellent and meaning-ful conference with a lot of new information.

We would like to say thanks to the EFNS Head Offi ce, Kenes International and the different committees.

The programme was rather busy, but I hope that you found some time to see the capital, and you all enjoyed your visit. We cordially welcome you back to Budapest.

On behalf of the Local Arrangements Com-mittee, I would like to thank all the speakers and the delegates for participating in this event. I hope to see you again in Stockholm next year.

With warm regards,

Professor László VécseiMember of the Hungarian Academy of

Sciences

Chairperson of the Local Arrangements Committee

Visitors at the EFNS Booth in Budapest.


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PORTUGUESE SOCIETIES OF NEUROLOGY AND NEURO

SURGERY 2012 (SPNC 2012)May 10–12, 2012

Porto, Portugal

[email protected] http://www.spnc.pt/neuro-2012_

page_124

WCNR 2012May 16–19, 2012

Melbourne, Australia

[email protected] www.dcconferences.com.au/

wcnr2012

ESC 2012 – EUROPEAN STROKE CONFERENCE

May 22–25, 2012Lisbon, Portugal

[email protected] www.eurostroke.eu

USCHI TSCHABITSCHER PRIZE FOR YOUNG NEUROLOGISTS

Another tournament for young neurolo-gists took place at the EFNS Congress in Budapest.

In two sessions, twelve young scientists pre-sented their outstanding work. For the fi rst time also two runner-up prizes were awarded in each session.

We congratulate the winner of the session on Clinical Neurology on Sunday, September 11, 2011

Sarosh R. Irani, Oxford, United Kingdom for the project: Morvan’s syndrome: clinical and serological fi ndings in 27 cases

Runner-up prize:

Milija Mijajlovic, Belgrade, Serbia, for the presentation of: Transcranial brain parenchyma sonography discriminates between hepatic and neurologic forms of Wilson’s disease

and

Nushan Gunawardana, London, United Kingdom, for the presentation of: Neurological examinations — improving practice through iden-tifying important elements

We congratulate the winner of the session on Basic Neurology on Monday, September 12, 2011:

Federico Ranieri, Rome, Italy for the proj-ect: Direct current stimulation modulates long-term potentiation (LTP) and zif268 expression in rat hippocampus

Runner-up prize:

Dacia Dalla Libera, Rome, Italy, for the pre-sentation of: Microglial microparticles as potential

biomarker for neuroinfl ammatory neurodegenera-tive diseases

and

Tatiana Milovidova, Moscow, Russia, for the presentation of: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type I in Russia

The Prize consists of an Award certifi cate & €500.

Yuri Alekseenko, Vitebsk, Belarus: Mild traumatic brain injury: Different patterns of clinical presentation and initial management awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Substance abuse and neurotoxicology

Federica Agosta, Milan, Italy: Mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease is associated with gray matter atrophy and white matter tract damage and resting state network abnormalities in Alzheimer’s disease: Beyond the default mode network awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panels on Neuroimag-ing & –sonolgy and Dementia & cognitive neurology

Andrea Calvo, Torino, Italy: PET/CT study revealed increased 18F-FDG uptake in subcortical regions in ALS awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on ALS

Giulia Di Stefano, Rome, Italy: Clinical and neurophysiological study of neuropathic pain in atients with multiple sclerosis awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Neuropathic Pain

Olena Fartushna, Kiev, Ukraine: Pathogenetic therapeutic approach with application of citicoline as a secondary as a secondary prevention of an acute ischemic stroke in patients with TIA awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Stroke

Sarosh Irani and Richard Hughes

EFNS INVESTIGATOR AWARDS 2011We congratulate the winners of the EFNS Investigator Awards 2011!

Federico Ranieri and Richard Hughes


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EFNS RTC IN NOVOSIBIRSKMay 24–26, 2012

Novosibirsk, Russia

http://www.efns.org/Regional-Teaching-Course-Novosibirsk-

2012.722.0.html

18TH EUROPEAN CONGRESS OF PHYSICAL & REHABILITATION

MEDICINE 28 May–1 June 2012Th essaloniki, Greece

[email protected]://www.esprm2012.eu/en/

EFNS REGIONAL TEACHING COURSE IN IASI

30 May–2 June, 2012Iasi, Romania

http://www.efns.org/Regional-Teaching-Course-

Iasi-2012.723.0.html

Daniela Ferrari, Milan, Italy: Central nervous system Rosai-Dorfman’s disease: a diagnostic challenge awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Neuro-oncology

Maryam Fourtassi, Lyon, France: Bladder dysfunction in hereditary spastic paraplegia awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on ANS

Srdjan Ljubisavljevic, Nis, Serbia: Nitrosative and oxidative stress inhibitors ameliorate clinical expression in rats with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases

Cecilia Monteiro, Porto, Portugal: Sensitivity of salivary gland biopsy in the diagnosis of early symptomatic familial amyloid polyneuropathy awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Neuropathies

Koen Paemeleire, Ghent, Belgium: Self-medication of headache: a community pharmacy-based survey awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Headache

Andrea Radtke, Berlin, Germany: Vestibular migraine – validation of clinical diagnostic criteria at long-term follow-up awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Neuro-ophthalmology/ -otology

Jan Rusz, Prague, Czech Republic: Two-minute vocal test and acoustic analysis reveal voice and speech disorders in early untreated Parkinson’s disease awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Movement disorders

Anna Sailer, London, United Kingdom: Exome sequencing as a rapid and cost effi cient diagnostic method in neurogenetic disorder awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Genetics and metabolic disorders

Štefan Sivák, Martin, Slovak Republic: Clinical correlations of post-traumatic proton magnetic resonance changes in patients after mild traumatic brain injury awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Neurotraumatology

Pavol Siarnik, Bratislava, Slovak Republic: Sleep-related epilepsy and changes of daytime vigility and sleep architecture awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Sleep disorders

Giorgio Tasca, Rome, Italy: Filaminopathy with a complicated phenotype awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Muscle disorders

Öivind Torkildsen, Bergen, Norway: Omega-3 fatty acids treatment in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Neuroimmunology

Marcia Waddington Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Baseline nutritional status in symptomatic patients in the Transthyretin Amyloidosis Outcomes Survey (THAOS) awarded by the EFNS Scientist Panel on Infectious diseases

Investigator Award Winners 2011


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ACN 2012 – ADVANCES IN CLINICAL NEUROLOGYMay 31–June 1, 2012

Vienna, Austria

[email protected]

44TH INTERNATIONAL DANUBE NEUROLOGY SYMPOSIUM

June 7–9, 2012Szeged, Hungary

[email protected] www.congress-service.hu/2012/

danube

ENS 2012 – 22ND MEETING OF THE EUROPEAN NEUROLOGICAL

SOCIETYJune 9–12, 2012

Prague, Czech Republic

[email protected]://www.congrex.ch/ens2012/

NATIONAL PRIZESThe prize for the best presentation from Israel, awarded by the Neurological Association of

Israel was awarded to Jose M. Rabey for his work on Alzheimer’s patients treated with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation interlaced with cognitive learning treatment show improved cognitive function compared to control that lasts after treatment period.

REPORT OF THE EFNS REGIONAL TEACHING COURSE LVIV (UKRAINE) JUNE 16–18, 2011

THE EFNS GUIDELINE AUDIT PROGRAMME

Introduction

The EFNS invited applications for a European Guideline Audit Programme Grant. Its main focus is to enhance the delivery of treatment in accordance with EFNS guidelines. This grant should be used to perform an audit with scien-tifi c means to ensure the quality and quantity of implementation. This will fulfi ll the third EFNS mission, high quality of neurological health care, by strengthening the standard, availability, and uniformity of neurological services in Europe. An initial grant of up to 50,000 Euros was made available for one audit project in 2011 and further competitions may be held.

Application focus

Applications must be related to one of the EFNS guidelines and be conducted in at least three European countries. Pan-European audits will be preferred.

Th e 2011 grant was awarded for

International audit on European Federation of Neurological Societies/Peripheral Nerve Society (EFNS/PNS) guidelines on chronic infl ammatory demyelinating polyradiculo-neuropathy (CIDP) and multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN).

Principal Investigator: Yusuf A. Rajabally (University of Leicester,

United Kingdom)Co-Applicants:Adrian J. Fowle (Surrey, United Kingdom)Jean-Marc Léger (Paris, France)Peter Van den Bergh (Brussels, Belgium)Eduardo Nobile-Orazio (Milan, Italy)Antonino Uncini (Lugano, Switzerland)Pieter A. van Doorn (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

by Anzhelika PayenokFor the fi rst time an EFNS Regional Teaching Course took place in Lviv. We, the organiz-ing committee want to express our apprecia-tion for the great help of the EFNS staff with the preparation of our EFNS RTC, especially Elisabeth Müller and Julia Mayer. We are also

very thankful to Professor Detlef Kömpf who gave us his kind supervision and supported us during all our work. In addition, we are grateful to Liliya Zvyagina for local help in the organi-zation of the RTC.

Participation of 220 students from Ukraine and neighboring countries and 8 speakers was

Natan Bornstein and Jose Rabey


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16TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PARKINSON’S

DISEASE AND MOVEMENT DISORDERS

June 17–21, 2012Dublin, Ireland

[email protected] http://www.mdscon-

gress2012.org/

THE 6TH BALTIC SEA SUMMER SCHOOL ON EPILEPSY

July 8–13, 2012Rostock, Germany

[email protected],http://www.epilepsiestiftung-

wolf.de/7.html.

8TH FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN NEUROSCIENCE SOCIETIES

(FENS) FORUM OF NEUROSCIENCE

July 14–18, 2012Barcalona, Spain

Email: http://fens2012.neurosci-ences.asso.fr/index.php

SCIENTIFIC FELLOWSHIP 2010

by Mansur Kutlubaev

I spent a very productive year in Edinburgh (Scotland, UK) doing one-year scientifi c fel-lowship funded by EFNS. My project was devoted to fatigue after stroke – a common but until recently often overlooked phenomenon. I took part in the study of possible role of bio-logical factors (stroke lesion location, chronic brain changes, hormonal dysregulation, etc) in

the development of fatigue in stroke survivors. This project involved a multidisciplinary team of professionals (Dr. Gillian Mead, Dr. Susan Shenkin, psychologist Ms. Fiona H. Dun-can, consultant-neuroradiologist Dr. Andrew Farrall). Working with them was enjoyable and enriching experience. I also co-authored several systematic review papers which was very useful:

planned. We managed to welcome an even larger number of participants. Among 268 at-tendees, 10 came from Moldova, 1 from Lithu-ania and 257 from 40 cities within Ukraine. We arranged for a larger lecture hall to make the performance of the lectures more comfortable for both, participants and lectors. However, we had no additional fi nancial ability to rent another 2 small rooms for workshops.

In total we had 12 speakers, of which eight lecturers were covered by planned RTC EFNS budget. The three local speakers, as well as the representative of the European Association of Young Neurologist and Trainees (EAYNT) was supported by both EFNS and local funding.

Our RTC also maintained the structure of plenary lectures in the morning followed by workshops in the afternoon. The morning ses-sion of the fi rst day was dedicated to movement disorders. The lectures of the fi rst day were car-ried out by Prof. Jacob van Hilten (the Nether-lands), Ass. Prof. Tatyana Slobodin (Ukraine), Dr. Alfonso Fasano (Italy), Prof. Kailash Bhatia (United Kingdom). The second day focused on stroke. The main topics were presented by Prof. Tamara Mischenko (Ukraine), Prof. Laszlo Csiba (Hungary), Prof. Jacques de Re-uck (Belgium), Prof. Natan Bornstein (Israel). The third day was organized as free topic day. During this day lectures by Prof. Vladymyr Shevaga (Ukraine), Prof. Detlef Kömpf (Ger-many) and Prof. Hermann Stefan (Germany) were presented.

All participants appreciated the RTC EFNS scientifi c level and practical value of lectures, as well as the presentations performed by the speakers. Participants noted the usefulness of EFNS fl yers, with the announcement of up-coming conferences, which we handed out with

the RTC education material. The special ab-stract book “Key Neurological Questions” was appreciated by most participants.

Information on EFNS RTC performance was covered on local TV-news. Professor Detlef Kömpf gave an interview to local journalists on main aims of such EFNS Regional Teaching courses and the perspectives of future collabo-ration especially for young neurologists.

Since scoring at the RTC exam is not obligatory for Ukrainian doctors (professional attestation considers only certifi cate of par-ticipation), only 127 participants took part in the fi nal RTC exam. 61.42 % of participants successfully passed the exam. Average score of correct answers to 50 questions was 31.48 ± 0.45. The lowest score was 16, the highest - 41. Probably, the results of the exam were also infl uenced by the difference between ap-proved medicinal preparations in Ukraine and those used in Europe as well as a different approach to the diagnosis of the neurologic diseases.

The cultural program included a visit to Lviv National Opera and a Gala dinner at which par-ticipants could communicate with each other in a friendly warm atmosphere outside the lecture halls.

All participating doctors were grateful for such valuable educative event and noted extreme need and usefulness of this type of training, as well as hopes for further meetings with lecturers of EFNS.

Dr. Anzhelika Payenok is Associate Profes-sor and Chief of the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the Lviv National Medi-cal University and the organiser of the 2011 EFNS RTC in Lviv, Ukraine.


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X WORLD CONGRESS ON SLEEP APNOEA

August 27–1 September, 2012Rome, Italy

[email protected] http://www.wcsaroma2012.com/

1ST PAN-SLAVIC CONGRESS OF CHILD NEUROLOGY

29 Aug–1 Sep 2012Ljubljana, Slovenia

10TH WORLD CONGRESS ON SLEEP APNEA

August 27–September 1, 2012

Rome, Italy

[email protected] http://www.wcsaroma

2012.com/

fi rst I got valuable skills in preparing systematic reviews; second I better understood the nature of behavioural changes in post-stroke patients. While I was doing this fellowship I travelled to Hamburg and presented a poster at the 20th European Stroke Conference.

During this year I also improved my clinical skills. I was lucky to be doing this fellowship in Edinburgh. The Department of Clinical Neuroscience (DCN) at University of Edin-burgh is one of the leading centres of stroke research in the world. I had a unique oppor-tunity to work with patients in stroke wards and out-patient clinic; I was also allowed to see patients with colleagues – neurologists, geriatricians and stroke physicians – world experts in their fi elds. Prof. M. Dennis, Prof. A. MacLullich, Dr. J. Stone, Dr. W. Whitely and many others readily answered all my ques-tions, and in a way, changed my views on how to practice medicine. I also attended Grand Rounds, Stroke Research Group meetings and Academic half-days at DCN which were extremely helpful for my continuous profes-sional education. After all I was delighted to observe how effi cient National Health System in the UK is.

It would be wrong if I don’t write a few words about Scotland and the city of Edin-burgh in particular. Located on the shore of Firth of Forth, Edinburgh is probably one of the nicest places in the UK to be (despite rainy weather some locals traditionally are very un-happy about). The thousands-year old capital of Scotland also known as “Athens of the North” has uncountable number of attractions, includ-ing Edinburgh Castle, National Museum, Na-tional Art Gallery, Hollyrood Palace, Scottish

Parliament etc. Furthermore, I do not remem-ber spending a month there without having a festival somewhere in the town. However, what I liked the most about Scotland were the islands and highlands. Isle of Sky, Loch Ness, Loch Tay, Aviemore, Pitlochry and Inverness are the places where I travelled and would recommend to everyone who would like to feel the true spirit of ancient Alba.

To conclude, I would like to thank people who made this fellowship possible. When I started looking for a place where I could have done this fellowship, the fi rst name popped up in my head was Charles Warlow (I guess I am one of many who has got this strong association “stroke med-icine - Professor Warlow”). Never having met him by then I sent a letter cheekily asking wheth-er he would be interested in having me at his de-partment. Shortly after that I received a nice let-ter telling that he was about to retire but would be happy to forward my letter to his successor – Prof. Peter Sandercock, who also was very sup-portive. Having learnt that I was interested in behavioural aspects of stroke, Prof. Sander-cock suggested contacting Dr. Gillian E. Mead, consultant Stroke Physician, Reader in Ge-riatric Medicine, who I have had the pleasure of working with since then. I also would like to mention my scientifi c advisor in Russia – Professor of Neurology Dr. Leyla Akhmade-eva, Head of the Department of Neurology at Kuvatov’s Republican Hospital in Ufa, Russia – Dr. Valery Tunik and all my colleagues who were very supportive and let me spend a whole year abroad. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to EFNS for funding this fellowship and letting me have this invaluable experience of working in Britain!

SCIENTIFIC FELLOWSHIP 2010

by Anett Csáti

The EFNS Scientifi c Fellowship programme gave me the opportunity to spend 6 months at the Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Experimental Vascular and Headache Re-search, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, chaired by Professor Lars Edvinsson.

I am a medical doctor and a fi rst-year PhD student at the Department of Neurology, Uni-

versity of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary. My fi eld of interest is the pathomechanism of primary headaches, and mainly migraine. While still a medical student, I began scientifi c activities. My PhD project is entitled The effect of kynurenines on the trigeminovascular system (pathomechanism of migraine) in the Experimental and Clinical Neurosciences PhD program, University of Szeged, led by Professor László Vécsei, Academi-

M. Kutlubaev with Dr. Mead M. Kutlubaev at the highlands


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21ST CONGRESS OF THE EUROPEAN SLEEP RESEARCH

SOCIETYSeptember 4–8, 2012

Paris, France

[email protected] http://www.congrex.ch/esrs2012.

html

10TH MEETING OF THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF

NEUROONCOLOGYSeptember 6–9, 2012

Marseille, France

[email protected] www.eano.eu

16TH CONGRESS OF THE EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF NEUROLOGICAL SOCIETIES

September 08–11, 2012Stockholm, Sweden

E-mail: headoffi [email protected]; www.efns.org/efns2012

cian, Head of Department of Neurology; my super-visor is János Tajti, Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology.

Migraine is a highly disabling, very severe neurological disorder that affects 16% of the general population. It has an enormous eco-nomic and social impact. However, the exact pathomechanism is still unknown; one of the leading theories relating to the background of migraine is the activation of the trigeminovas-cular system.

The trigeminovascular system consists of pseudounipolar neurons in the trigeminal ganglion, peripheral branches innervating the meningeal tissues and intracranial vasculature, and central afferents projecting to the second-order neurons in the brainstem, which conveys the information to the thalamus and the cortex. The trigeminovascular system has a pivotal role in the pathomechanism of migraine, although the site of its primary trigger is still surrounded by controversy.

The amino acid L-tryptophan is metabolized in several pathways. Besides the most common-ly known serotonergic pathway, the main alter-native route is the kynurenine pathway, which is probably more signifi cant. An important me-tabolite of the kynurenine pathway is kynurenic acid, which is an endogenous antagonist of ex-citatory amino acid receptors, and especially the glutamate receptors.

We examined the effects of kynurenic acid and one of its novel derivatives in chemically induced infl ammation of the trigeminovascular system, and found that they modifi ed this acti-vation. These results suggest new insight into the pathomechanism of migraine.

During my stay in Lund, Professor Lars Ed-vinsson provided me with excellent guidance in this exciting fi eld of research. I would like to thank immensely for his expert knowledge, his enthusiasm and his positive personality. I am also very grateful to Professor Karin Warfvinge for her support throughout my scientifi c work and for always being available for discussion. She controlled my daily practice, introduced me to numerous secrets concerning immuno-histochemical techniques and taught me the ap-propriate use of the light- and epifl uorescence microscope (Nikon 80i, Tokyo, Japan) and the related image analysis software.

I would like to thank the EFNS for giving me this opportunity to work with Professor Lars Edvinsson and Professor Karin Warfvinge. We have subsequently been able to set up a new scientifi c project for continuation of the collaboration between the Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Experimental Vascular and Headache Research, Lund Uni-versity, and the Department of Neurology, University of Szeged.

2011 EAYNT – EFNS TRAVEL GRANTS: MANY MORE THAN EVER...

by Martin Rakusa, Edina Varga, Lucas Schirmer, Laszlo Sztriha, Johann Sellner on behalf of

Th e European Association of Young Neurologists and Trainees (EAYNT)

The European Association of Young Neurolo-gists and Trainees (EAYNT) is a non profi t organisation focusing on the networking and support of young neurologists and trainees. One of our goals is to provide fi nancial support to our members for their professional activities. We are proud to announce that we have awarded travel grants for the fourth year in a row. Of course this would not have been possible without the gener-ous support from the EFNS, for which we are most grateful. We hope that our collaboration with the EFNS will continue in the future result-ing in the accomplishment of further projects.

Over the past few years EAYNT – EFNS travel grants have become more and more popular. This year we were able to provide 16 grants, 175 each, to at least partly support our members’ travel costs to professional meet-ings. This year we had almost three times as many applicants than grants available. One of

the many reasons for this may have been our presence and special sessions at ENS and EFNS congresses, EFNS Regional Teaching Courses, EFNS Academy and other congresses. Our representatives were available for additional information at all the meetings mentioned above.

It is always hard to choose among a number of candidates. Because of this, we use a scor-ing system that helps members of the EAYNT offi ce to select the best candidates. First of all, the applicant has to be a member of EAYNT, younger than 35 years, and apply for participa-tion at an international neurological congress, a teaching course or a summer school. Atten-dance at congresses with an EAYNT session is prioritised. Additional points are given to col-leagues who present their work at a meeting. A person is awarded an EAYNT – EFNS grant only once during her/his career.


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3RD EUROPEAN HEADACHE AND MIGRAINE TRUST INTER

NATIONAL CONGRESS 2012September 20–23, 2012

London, UK

[email protected]://www.ehmtic2012.com/

homepage.html

10TH EUROPEAN CONGRESS ON EPILEPTOLOGY (ECE)

September 30th–October 4th, 2012

London, UK

[email protected] http://www.epilepsylondon2012.

org/

8TH WORLD STROKE CONGRESSOctober 10–13, 2012

Brasilia, Brazil

[email protected]://www.stroke2012-

congress.com/

This year we awarded more travel grants than in any previous year. Although some may have been disappointed by a negative decision, they will hopefully apply again next year. If you are a young neurologist or trainee, you may wish to consider this opportunity. We would also

like to encourage mentors and consultants to inform their younger colleagues about EAYNT – EFNS travel grants. All information, includ-ing the list of this year’s winners, is published on our home page (www.eaynt.org).

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF NEURO-ONCOLOGY

CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION ONLINEAll e-learning activities are free-of-charge for EFNS members, who are registered to www.efns.org!Answer all questions correctly and you will receive one hour of CME.

The European Association of Neuro-Oncol-ogy, which is a multidisciplinary and multi-professional organisation has launched a free open access journal: EANO Neuro-Oncology magazine, which is open on the website www.eano.eu. Articles can be freely downloaded and are educational, dealing with procedures, tests and new developments in Neuro-Oncology. There are articles on nurses and patient issues, clinical studies and hot topics. The magazine

is only available online, and is free from any commercial bias.

Should you be interested in becoming a member of EANO, the EANO membership has several advantages such as reduced congress rate, access to the scientifi c journal Neuro-Oncology, and last, but not least, the EANO of-fers also education grants for visits of departments, and even fellowships for a duration of one year, for colleagues interested in Neuro-Oncology.

European Journal of Neurology

Every month one article is chosen for online learning.

The following articles are available free of charge on

https://www.efns.org/EFNS-Continuing-Medical-Education-online.301.0.html

August 2011: Human herpesvirus 6 and effectiveness of interferon beta 1b in multiple sclerosis patients. Garcia-Montojo M. et al.

September 2011: Treatment of medication overuse headache – guideline of the EFNS headache panel. Evers S. et al.

EAYNT members at a hospital visit in Budapest


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ICNE2012 – 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON NEUROLOGY &

EPIDEMIOLOGYNovember 8–10, 2012

Nice, France

[email protected] http://www.neuro-conference.

com/2012/

2013

XXI WORLD CONGRESS OF NEUROLOGY

Vienna, AustriaSeptember 21–26, 2013

[email protected]

2014

17TH CONGRESS OF THE EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF NEUROLOGICAL SOCIETIES

Istanbul, TurkeySpring 2014

October 2011: Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis in Spain: clinical, prognostic, and genetic study. Pilo-de-la-Fuente B. et al.

November 2011: Low risk of vascular events folowing urgent treatment of transient ischaemic attack: the Aarhus TIA study. Von Weitzel-Mudersbach P. et al.

December 2011: Effect of rasagiline as adjunct therapy to levodopa on severity of OFF Parkinson’s disease. Stocchi F. and Rabey J.M.

January 2012: EFNS Guideline Nystagmus and oscillopsia. Straube A. et al.

February 2012: EFNS Guideline Mild traumatic brain injury. Vos P.E. et al.

Win an EFNS package, including an EFNS tie/scarf!

Among all persons, who will correctly answer the questions related to the November 2012 article, 3 packages will be allotted.

We congratulate the winners of the last competition:

Artem Chepa

Vera Chepa

Nihal Kutlar

Th e Abstract submission portal is open: http://www2.kenes.com/efns/sci/Pages/CallforAbstracts.aspx


EFNS NEWSLETTER - eaneurology.org · continuing medical education 11 ©European Federation of...

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