The Portuguese Association of Otoneurology holds its main meeting as part of its annual conference. The aim of this meeting is to bring together the various stakeholders in the field of otoneurology, to discuss the key current issues, and to raise awareness amongst trainees.
This year, the meeting took place from 4 to 6 June at the Real Santa Eulália in Albufeira. For some years now, organising these meetings has become increasingly difficult and subject to greater constraints, with the number of sponsors dwindling to the point of near extinction. This has necessitated strict cost control and a rethinking of the format of the meeting, as well as the need to seek out new sponsors.
Despite the difficulties, the meeting was a success, with around 170 participants. We received around 34 submissions for presentation, including oral presentations and posters.
In order to attract new residents and specialists to this field, we once again organised a satellite course alongside the meeting, organised by Drs. Margarida Amorim and Dr João Lemos, entitled ‘Management of patients with tinnitus’, which was attended by 40 participants. This represents an increase of 20% compared with the previous year.
We were joined by experts from Portugal and abroad. For the first time, we welcomed a guest from the United States, Professor Jonh Dornhoffer, who addressed the controversial topic of treating unilateral deafness with osseointegrated hearing aids. Dr Herman Kingma, who has previously been a guest at other meetings, addressed the topic of bilateral vestibular areflexia, presenting his experience – unique worldwide – with the first 14 patients to receive vestibular implants, which are still at the experimental stage. Dr Herminio Pérez Garrigues revisited the topic of vibratory nystagmus. Another topic discussed at the meeting—and one of the most topical in contemporary otology—is the surgical approach to unilateral deafness in patients with and without tinnitus.
The turnout and success of the meeting, which we believe were clearly positive, will serve as an incentive for the organisation of the next annual meeting, which is expected to be challenging and labour-intensive. To everyone who came to the Algarve, our heartfelt thanks, and we look forward to seeing you next year.
See you next year at Otoneuro 2016.
