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For January 2017, we have selected: Patel M, Agarwal K, Arshad Q, et al. Intratympanic methylprednisolone versus gentamicin in patients with unilateral Ménière’s disease: a randomized double-blind, comparative effectiveness trial. Lancet Neurol 2016;388:2753-2762. Disabling vertigo attacks and hearing loss are characteristics of Ménière’s disease. In patients with severe and frequent vertigo spells, intratympanic injections of gentamicin have proved to be effective, but at the price of permanent vestibular damage and hearing loss.

Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan (Kazakh: Қазақстан Республикасы), is located at the center of the Eurasia continent. On the north and west sides, Kazakhstan shares borders with Russia, on the east with China, and on the south with Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Kazakhstan is a huge country, being at the 9th place in the world for its size.

The objective of the “Clinical Fellowship Programme” is to provide a well- defined clinical observational experience in a department with recognised expertise in a specific field.
With this programme, neurologists that are still in the process of training, or recently… Continue Reading

European institutions are sometimes discredited and put into questions. This is particularly true in these times of populistic political movements which try to steer the wheel of European unification backwards. Reasons given by opponents are that ‘European efforts are considered too slow, too burocratic and too inflexible’. ‘There are too many cooks preparing the meal’. Sometimes we hear this also from scientists. The logical conclusion is to spend the money at home in their own countries. The latter view is sometimes even expressed by people who in principle share the European perspective. Populistic politicians go so far to even question the whole EU project. In this respect medical research community can make an argument and a big contribution to the understanding why the EU is important.

Moldova (official name – Republic of Moldova) – it’s a beautiful country located in the southern-western extreme of the Eastern-European plain, in the Europe’s heart.

For December 2016 we have selected: Gonzales-Bermejo J, Morélot-Panzini C, Tanguy M-L, et al.  Early diaphragm pacing in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (RespiStimALS): a randomized controlled triple-blind trial. Lancet Neurol 2016:15;1217-1227. The main cause of death in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is related to respiratory failure. It has been hypothesized that diaphragm pacing (a technique that induces diaphragm contraction through the stimulation of the phrenic nerve) could slow the progression of respiratory muscle weakness, and increase alveolar ventilation and lung compliance in ALS patients.

It is a great pleasure to introduce the recipients of the Research Fellowship 2017 (in alphabetical order):

…and register to the EAN congress in Amsterdam 2017. It is not only that you can save more than 100€ if you register now, but you will be able to cover the big five neurological diseases, as well as rare… Continue Reading

EAN pages strives to present one country every month to the readers of the EAN pages. We have seen presentations from Albania, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, and Ireland so far and I would draw your attention to these wonderful articles in our newsblog. This month we have Latvia and in December it will be Moldovia. The country where the EAN congresses take place (so far Germany and Denmark) are even presented in a series of articles covering special aspects of the development of local neurology. The top neurologists from these countries take their time to present important aspects of their country like Denmark did before the Copenhagen congress in 2016. In a series of seven articles they have presented the state of the art and research in their country concerning basic MS research, pain, dementia, clinical MS research, cerebral blood flow research, clinical neurophysiology and headache. The care structures for patients and how research is helping to develop new treatments and new innovations are outlined and one can learn from their success. Whenever I read their presentations it reminds me to the rich history of neurology in Europe. All the different countries were able to show their particular contribution to the field and the achievements they have reached to provide better patient care.

Latvia - officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republika), is a beautiful country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, one of the three Baltic states. The name “Latvia” comes from the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes who formed the core of modern Latvians. With a coastline of 531km along the Baltic Sea, Latvia is bordered by Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, and Belarus, and has 64,589 km2 of scenic plains and rivers, lakes and hills, including a majestic coastline.

David B. Vodušek (DV): As a senior experienced European neurologist, can you illustrate the role you give to EAN within the community of European Neurologists? Claudia Sommer (CS): The EAN is the umbrella society for the community of European Neurologists, and I am more than glad that after many years, we have achieved to build one strong society.

For November 2016 we have selected: Cree BAC, Gourraud P-A, Oksenberg JR, et al. Long-term evolution of multiple sclerosis disability in the treatment era. Ann Neurol 2016:80;499-510. Studies describing the natural history of multiple sclerosis (MS) before the availability of disease-modifying treatments have reported a progression of the disease from the relapsing-remitting form to the secondary progressive form in about 50% of patients at 19 years after the onset.

Ireland: island of saints and scholars. Although in the interests of full disclosure not all of its 5 million inhabitants are necessarily either saintly or scholarly, the visitor to its shores will certainly find many footprints of Ireland’s tradition of folklore and stories. The island’s temperate climate is nourished by the Gulf Stream, turning the landscape into a lush green onto which are embedded imprints of Ireland’s cultural past, typified by the extraordinary Neolithic tomb at Newgrange.

It is a dream of neurologists to cure degenerative diseases. The big brothers, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease have always been a huge burden of the population but are now, in the millennium of increasing population age becoming a scourge of humanity. While everybody is acknowledging this, both PD (1) and AD (2) communities of clinician researchers and basic researchers are preparing to attack the problem fundamentally frequently unnoticed by the general neurology community.

For October 2016 we have selected: Sevigny J, Chiao P, Bussiere T, et al. The antibody aducanumab reduces Aβ plaques in Alzheimer’s disease. Nature 2016;537:50-56. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most frequent neurodegenerative disorder. It is also extremely disabling with severe impact of the quality of life of patients and caregivers. The main pathological process is related to the toxic deposition of amyloid-β plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. No effective treatment is currently available to slow down the disease progression.