EAN News

 “SILENTLY LOSING THE BRAIN – The enigma of small vessel disease” Come to Copenhagen for the next Brain Prize Meeting in November 2019. With international keynote speakers, including the 2019 prize winners, the Lundbeck Foundation Brain Prize Meeting aims to bring a broad range of researchers to discuss why small vessel disease has emerged as a major contributor to dementia, migraine and stroke worldwide.

Founded in1996, the European Institute of Women’s Health (EIWH) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and registered charity. The Institute uses an evidence-based approach to advocate for equitable, sex- and gender-sensitivity in health policy, research, promotion, treatment and care.  It also promotes biomedical and socio-economic research that addresses sex and gender-based differences to ensure access to quality treatment and care for women across their lifespan. 

It is my pleasure to introduce the backbone of our society, the Scientific Panels, to you in my role as the Scientific Committee Chair. EAN Scientific Panels cover a wide range of subspecialties and play a significant role in the EAN everyday activities. These member-led groups are a perfect opportunity to network with colleagues

For September 2019, we have selected two scientific papers with a common theme: Goadsby et al., Trial of galcanezumab in prevention of episodic cluster headache NEJM 2019; 381: 132-41, and Lipton et al., Rimegepant, an oral calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist, for migraine NEJM 2019; 381: 142-9.

During the Assembly of Delegates at the Oslo Congress, Professor Deuschl acknowledged Professor Hannah Cock’s longstanding tribute to EAN and her outstanding achievements in the Education Committee.

The Scientific Committee is fully committed to a great mission: To increase and share the best clinical knowledge and the cutting-edge information from translational research in all neurological fields. Main actions are i) to facilitate exchanges and synergies with the Scientific Panels ii) to support the Guideline Production Group (update and diffusion of expertise and best clinical practice), iii) to interact positively with other scientific societies with reciprocal exchanges and liaise with the European Affairs sub-Committee to increase the awareness of Neurology in Europe.

The 5th EAN Congress held in Oslo from June 29 to July 2 is now over and it’s time to look back. The Congress was a great success for EAN and for us in the local organising committee in Norway. Number of participants was the highest ever with 6919 registered delegates, and the number of submitted abstracts was all-time high at 2250. Number of applications for the tournament for young investigators was up about 40% for basic and more than 20% for clinical research. These figures illustrate the high and rapidly increasing activity in our society. At the same time, EAN definitely managed to make its mark on the city of Oslo with 24 EAN banners on both sides of Karl Johan, the main street of the city.

Every month, you will find an original self-portrait of one Scientific Committee member, who will respond informally to the same 5 questions. Here we go!

Interview with Prof. Claudio Baracchini - President of the ESNCH Prof. Dafin Muresanu interviews President of the ESNCH, Prof. Claudio Baracchini

The guideline education and Cost-Conscious Healthcare (CoCoCare) programme was launched prior to the 5th EAN Congress in Oslo. 

It is my great pleasure to be invited to introduce myself to you in my new role as editor of EAN Pages, starting at our Congress in Oslo. I am a neurologist based in Sheffield in the UK, running busy general and neuromuscular clinics, with a research interest in motor neuron disease. First of all, I want to thank my predecessor and friend, Professor Elena Moro, for leading us to our current position of strength at EAN Pages.

Norway is located in the western and northern part of Scandinavia, and it is well known for its beautiful scenery with fjords and waterfalls along the coastline, its mountainous wilderness, and for Arctic regions with northern lights in the winter and midnight sun during the summer. Norway is one of Europe's most sparsely populated countries with 5.2 million people in a land area of 385,802 km2. The most densely populated area is around the city of Oslo in the south-east of the country. Oslo, the Norway’s capital, is the fastest-growing capital in Europe.

Prof. Fischer presented the first lecture on the subject of recanalization in acute stroke with a short review of the current status of acute stroke management and a focused discussion on a great deal of the unanswered questions concering reperfusion therapy, including the safety and contraindications of r-tPA, the risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, intra-venous thrombolysis for minor strokes, wake-up strokes, extending the time window, the use of alteplase vs. tenecteplase as well as the unaswered questions regarding endovascular treatment, such as extending the time window, basilar occlusion, use in cases with either low NIHSS or low ASPECTS scores.

This year, at the annual hospital visit of the Resident and Research Fellow Section (RRFS) of the European Academy of Neurology, nearly 80 resident and research fellows visited to the Neurology Department of the Rikshospitalet, organized with the support of Dr. Silje Bjerknes, local resident and PhD candidate.

The last day of the Congress and time to take stock. Kell Morten Myhr summarised the field of multiple sclerosis (MS), which received 205 abstracts. Professor Myhr started his highlights with papers by Persson et al from Lexington reporting longitudinal observational survival data in MS and Stahmann et al from Hanover who reported variable rates of starting disease-modifying therapy. Professor Myhr considered that these papers together pointed toward a need to start MS therapy early. Prognostic blood biomarkers were then considered with vitamin D shown to predict long-term disability (Wesnes et al, Trondheim), whilst neurofilament light chain was associated with development of cognitive impairment in secondary progressive MS (Kuhle et al, Basel).