Sandra Morović

English

Hrčak - Portal of scientific journals of Croatia

Acta Clin Croat 2010; 49:203-205 NewsActa Clin Croat,  Vol. 48,  No. 3,  2009 203International Postgraduate Course: 21st Summer Stroke School Healthy Lifestyle and Prevention of StrokeTh is year’s amazing educational experience was once again held in Dubrovnik, which hosted the 21st Summer Stroke School from May 31 to June 5, 2010.Th e Course was organized by the Croatian Stroke Society, Croatian Society for Neurovascular Disor-ders, Croatian Medical Association, School of Medi-cine, University of Zagreb, and Central and East Eu-ropean Stroke Society.Directors of the Course are: Academician Vida De-marin, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; Professor Roman Haberl, University of Munich, Munich, Ger-many; Professor Kurt Niederkorn, University of Graz, Graz, Austria; Professor Tanja Rundek, University of Miami, Miami, USA; and Professor Zlatko Trkanjec, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia. Andro Vlahušić, MD, MS, and Mira Ivanković, MD as local organizers provided organizational support to the Congress.Th e Course gathered once again great experts in the fi eld of neurology and cerebrovascular diseases from all around. Lectures were interesting, yet educa-tional and interactive. Th roughout the week, we could enjoy and participate in the exchange of knowledge and experience from world famous neurologists who were more than willing to share it with the Course participants.Th e Course traditionally started with Academician Demarin’s greetings and opening remarks. She point-ed out our objectives and future goals, and opened the Course with a lecture connecting neurology and art. Th is year, the emphasis was put on stroke prevention and stroke risk factors. Despite all improvements in the fi eld, many stroke cases could have been prevent-ed. Yet, treatment and rehabilitation were not neglect-ed either. Sex diff erences in cerebrovascular diseases, as well as post-stroke aphasia and quality of life were NEWSpaid due attention. Also, interesting data were pre-sented on Fabry disease and stroke in young adults.It is hard to pick the most interesting lecture, so I have chosen to present a few. Fabry disease, its di-agnostic and therapeutic possibilities were presented by Academician Demarin. Professor Trkanjec from Zagreb presented data and management options for post-stroke depression involving at least one-third of post-stroke patients. Post-stroke aphasia, reading and writing disorders, and their impact on the pa-tient’s quality of life after stroke were discussed by Professor Sinanović. Professor Haberl from Munich emphasized the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of transient neurologic attack. Atrial fi bril-lation and its management was a hot topic presented and discussed by Professor David Russel from Oslo. Our neuroradiologists, J. Hat, MD from Zagreb and E. Klein from Austria, presented new diagnostic pos-sibilities in stroke, and interventional and up-to-date treatment of aneurysms. Professor Kadojić pointed out sex diff erences in our stroke patients. Assistant Professor Vanja Bašić-Kes gave a lecture on central post-stroke pain, and Hans van Elst presented an up-date on e-Tracking, novel and improved ultrasound software possibilities that help us greatly in vascular age assessment. My part was to present the concept of our newly opened Center for Prevention of Cerebro-vascular Diseases and to point out the importance of physical activity and reduction of salt consumption in stroke prevention.Many interesting case reports were presented and discussed in the classroom as well as at Department of Neurology on our visit to Dubrovnik General Hos-pital. Th is wonderful visit was prepared by our local organizers. Altogether, it was a nice week of learning and communication, which left us with only greater ap-preciation of our profession!Sandra Morović204 Acta Clin Croat,  Vol. 49,  No. 2,  2010Acta Clin Croat 2010; 49:203-205 NewsTh e 50th International Neuropsychiatric Pula CongressTh e congress with international participation en-titled International Neuropsychiatric Congress took place on June 16-19, 2010 in Pula, Republic of Croa-tia. Th e Congress was held under personal auspices of President of Republic of Croatia, His Excellency Professor Ivo Josipović. Th e Congress was organized by the South East European Society for Neurology and Psychiatry International Neuropsychiatric Pula Congresses Kuratorium, with Academician Vida De-marin, Head of the University Department of Neu-rology, Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital in Zagreb, as Secretary General. Honorary President of the Kuratorium is Professor of Neurology (ret.) Boško Barac.Th e Neuropsychiatric Pula Congress probably has the longest tradition in the fi elds of neurology and psychiatry, and this year it was special for celebrat-ing its 50th anniversary. Th e tradition of this Congress started in 1961 as a rather small gathering of hardly 60 neuropsychiatrists, mostly from Zagreb and Graz. Th e founders of these meetings are now founding honorary members of the Congress Kuratorium: H. Bertha, Graz; R. Lopašić, Zagreb; A. Rosenzweig, Zagreb; G. Grinschgl, Graz; P. Kartin, Ljubljana; H. Lechner, Graz; F. Marguth, Munich; N. Peršić, Zagreb; J. Ristić, Beograd; W. Scheid, Köln; and O. Stochdorf, Munich. Scientists and specialists promot-ed collaboration between these two fi elds of medicine as well as between their divided, yet nearby countries. Th ese meetings have grown over years into the largest scientifi c and professional event in this part of Eu-rope, with eminent speakers and approximately 400 participants every year. Th is year’s academic lecture (Fifty years of the International Neuropsychiatric Pula Meetings) was held by Boško Barac (Zagreb), who recalled the founders of the Congress, scientifi c programs and academic lectures held through fi ve de-cades of the Congress history, and gave his personal view on the development and growth of these meet-ings since his fi rst visit to Pula Congress in 1966.Th e Congress consisted of main topic lectures in neurology and psychiatry, workshops, satellite sympo-sia, teaching course and poster sections. Milestones in neurology and psychiatry in the last fi fty years were presented through lectures on a number of important and widespread neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, dementia, organic psychosis, neuropsychop-harmacology and psychotherapy in psychiatry, etc. Development of neurosurgery in the last fi fty years was also one of the main topics. Th e 3rd International Epilepsy Symposium on Epi-lepsy Th erapy was held within the frame of the Con-gress. It brought an overview of the history of epilepsy therapy, diffi  culties in the management of epilepsies, preoperative evaluation of epilepsy patients, and epi-lepsy surgery and outcomes. A great number of satellite symposia took place during these four days. Th e need for interdisciplin-ary collaboration between neurology and psychiatry, which are now independent disciplines, is ever more recognized. Neurologists are becoming aware of the psychiatric symptoms in various neurologic disorders, as well as of the presence of highly disabling mood disorders in a great number of patients. On the other hand, with new diagnostic techniques, more data are available on the organic, molecular and biologic ba-sis of psychiatric diseases. Special awareness of this relationship was tackled in a satellite symposium on psychosomatics, where both neurologists and psychia-trists, among them Professor Davor Miličić, Dean of the Zagreb University School of Medicine (Psychoso-matic aspects of cardiologic patients), gave their view on the topic. Th ere was also a symposium on forensic psychiatry and a session entitled Young Psychiatrists’ Session: Meet the Expert – Brian Leonard, where a few of younger colleagues had a chance to present their work and give a lecture. In the Cell Cycle Ab-normalities in Schizophrenia workshop, psychiatrists had an opportunity to acquire additional knowledge on this disorder. Congress participants could also attend satellite symposia entitled What Does Slowing of Clinical Progression Really Mean? (Lundbeck) and Copax-one® – Foundation in Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (Pliva). For neurologists, an additional teaching course on stroke prevention and satellite symposium on suba-rachnoid hemorrhage were organized. Some of these courses and sessions were held in Croatian, while most of them were in English.Acta Clin Croat,  Vol. 49,  No. 2,  2010 205Acta Clin Croat 2010; 49:203-205 NewsTh e joint meeting of the Research Group on De-livery of Neurological Services (RGODNS) of WFN, Central and Eastern European Stroke Society and INPC focused on the prevention of stroke. Since stroke is the second most common cause of death worldwide and also the leading cause of disability, continuous education on stroke prevention, diagnosis and treatment is necessary. Prevention is still the best approach to stroke, so health promotion campaigns focusing on healthy lifestyle, reduction of risk factors such as high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, dia-betes mellitus and elevated cholesterol should be con-ducted. Exchanging knowledge on the epidemiology and means of prevention leads to a decrease in mortal-ity due to stroke, as well as to extended survival and reduced post-stroke disability. Special attention was also paid to diffi  culties in recognizing and treating Fabry disease, an X-linked inborn error of glycosphin-golipid catabolism due to defi ciency of lysosomal hy-droxylase, alpha galactosidase A. It is responsible for about 4% of cryptogenic strokes, and because it is treatable with enzyme replacement therapy, this pa-tient population could be protected. An interesting relationship between stroke and art was presented on the example of a Serbian painter, with description of the onset of ischemic stroke and diff erence in artistic style afterwards. Painting is a very complex operation, involving brain areas responsible for motor action, perceptive, cognitive and emotional processing. Brain damage could therefore modify artistic expression. Right parieto-occipital damage leading to spatial ne-glect, constructional apraxia or perceptual agnosia can change the spatial confi guration of the whole paint-ing or its parts, while extensive left hemisphere dam-age may result in simplifi cation of detail of the objects presented. Pain is a common symptom in various neurologic, but also psychiatric conditions. Th e joint meeting of the Pula Congress with Alps Adria Neuroscience Section on the diagnosis and management of pain fo-cused on scientifi c aspects of pain, migraine and neu-ropathic pain, low back pain from neurosurgical point of view and psychotherapy in oncologic pain patients.Th e social program of the Congress is something that has to be mentioned. Pula Congress has always been known for its friendly, warm atmosphere and cultural programs. After the academic lecture, open-ing of the Congress was enriched with traditional Is-trian folk dances performed by the Mendula artistic group from Medulin. Gala dinner was held at beauti-ful seashore, and delicious Croatian food, music, great company and a chance to meet and catch-up with col-leagues made this evening fun and a great memory for all. Pula Congress covered many important neurologic and psychiatric disorders, and gave a valuable contri-bution to the current knowledge about the prediction, diagnosis and treatment of these widespread condi-tions. It defi nitely has an outstanding position in pro-moting the interdisciplinary, as well as international collaboration.Maja Strineka

International Postgraduate Course: 21st Summer Stroke School Healthy Lifestyle and Prevention of Stroke

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Hrčak - Portal of scientific journals of Croatia