With great pleasure we report from the 26th EAN Spring School 2025, held once again in the beautiful venue of Steinschaler Dörfl in Lower Austria on 30 April – 4 May 2025.
In the stunning environment of the mountains around the river Pielach, this year we welcomed 115 participants from 25 different countries: Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Our course took place in the traditional format – three morning lectures for all participants, and three afternoon workshops, in which the participants were divided into smaller groups. During the workshops they had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss topics in depth with the faculty.
Prof. Roland Wiest, representing the Teaching Course Sub-Committee onsite welcomed all participants and introduced the speakers.
The first day was devoted to the topic of Grey matter / Alzheimer disease. The lectures were given by Kristian Steen Frederiksen (Copenhagen, Denmark), Giovanni B. Frisoni (Geneva, Switzerland) and Federica Agosta (Milan, Italy). The speakers introduced the participants to the topics New and emerging biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease; Diagnosis & differential diagnosis of dementia disorders; and Current and future therapy & management for Alzheimer’s disease.
In the evening, everyone had the opportunity to see the Melk Monastery (UNESCO World Heritage Site) on a rock above the river Danube and enjoy dinner in a typical Austrian restaurant, with musical entertainment.
The speakers on the second day were Marialuisa Zedde (Reggio Emilia, Italy), Elke Gizewski (Innsbruck, Austria) and Gargi Banerjee (London, UK). This day was dedicated to The spectrum of vascular disorders, and our faculty held lectures on Vasculitis and granulomatous disorders; Overview of cerebral vascular malformations: AVM & dAVF; and Cerebral amyloid angiopathy: essential concepts and new perspectives.
The morning lectures finished with a presentation given by the Treasurer of the EAN Resident and Research Fellow Section (RRFS), Katarzyna Krzywicka (Groningen, The Netherlands). She acquainted the participants with the opportunities and benefits that come with membership of this section.
The evening programme began with six selected participants who had the opportunity to present their case reports – Riccardo Borgonovo (Italy), Giulia Pederzoli (Italy), Ieva Masiuliene (Lithuania), Richard Boček (Czech Republic), Athina Tsimpiktsioglou (Greece) and Jacopo Bissacco (Italy).
The best presentation was chosen by the faculty with the presenter receiving an award the day after. Richard Boček took the win with his presentation and received a prize of free registration for a future EAN congress.
For the first time, one day of the school was declared as General Neurology Day, with lectures on the topic Non-traumatic spinal cord disorders. We welcomed three speakers – Roland Wiest (Bern, Switzerland), Maria Judit Molnar (Budapest, Hungary) and Johann Sellner (Mistelbach, Austria). Their lectures focused on Imaging findings in Intra- and Extramedullary pathologies; Acute vs. Chronic presentations of non-traumatic myelopathies; and Infectious myelopathies.
After a successful exam, the participants received their certificates of attendance and celebrated their success at a relaxed goodbye party.
We cordially thank all participants and speakers for joining us and look forward to seeing all of you soon at other EAN activities and events.
If you are interested in participating in any of the other EAN Schools, you can find more information on our website about the EAN Autumn School and the EAN Science School.
