Throughout the challenging year of 2014, the Portuguese Association of Otoneurology and its members undertook a range of activities, of which we are very proud and which give us reason to believe that this positive momentum will continue in 2015.
The APO website, under the direct responsibility of Dr Fernando Vaz Garcia, featured, as of yesterday, more than four dozen entries in its guestbook; curiously, the majority were from foreign colleagues, mainly from Spain, France, Brazil and Argentina.
Its layout has been updated, making it more intuitive and therefore easier to use; its content is constantly reviewed and updated, thus proving to be an excellent working tool for all those – members and non-members alike – who have the privilege of consulting it. The website has recently been enhanced with the update to the e-learning course on “Functional Assessment of Vertigo”, led in the medical field by Drs F. Vaz Garcia and José Tavares, which has led to an increase in demand for the course.
In line with its remit to promote debate and keep knowledge up to date on otoneurological topics, the APO entrusted the organisation of its 2014 Annual Meeting to Drs. Pedro Araújo of Hospital da Luz and Leonel Luís of Hospital de Santa Maria, leading figures in otoneurology both nationally and internationally. A new feature of this event, which took place in the Algarve last June, was that participants had the opportunity to attend a post-conference course in otoneurology, involving colleagues from Portugal and abroad. This event provided an excellent opportunity for the exchange of knowledge amongst the approximately 200 participants, through lectures and round-table discussions featuring national and international colleagues, in an atmosphere of dynamism and camaraderie that was truly noteworthy.
As has become customary, the 6th APO Winter Meeting took place in February 2014 at the Eco Hotel in Évora, organised by Dr Conceição Monteiro.
With a view to continuing to foster effective collaboration with our fellow neurologists, we opted for a topic common to both specialities, and our choice fell on ”Acute Vestibular Syndrome”. The meeting proved to be a success both from a scientific perspective and in terms of the relationship between the two specialities, to which the excellent preparatory work and on-the-ground organisation carried out by the organiser contributed greatly.
This meeting resulted in a “report” on the topic, drawn up jointly by colleagues from the fields of neurology and otorhinolaryngology, which was distributed by the APO in collaboration with Abbott Laboratories, during the round-table discussion on this topic, which took place during the APO’s Annual Meeting.
Over the past year, there have been several international events of relevance to otoneurology, at which members of the APO were among the speakers.Notable among these were the 28th Barany Society Meeting (Buenos Aires, Argentina), the 16th International Symposium on Inner Ear Medicine and Surgery (Zell im Zillertal, Austria), the SBORL Annual Congress (Porto Alegre, Brazil), the Annual Congress of the SFORL (Paris, France) and the Annual Congress of the SEORL (Madrid, Spain). .
We would like to publicly thank our colleagues, Drs. Fernando Vaz Garcia, Leonel Luís, Pedro Araújo, Vítor Correia da Silva, Rosmaninho Seabra, Rosa Castilho and Pedro Escada for their participation in these events, which serves as recognition of the high standard of Portuguese otoneurology.
Furthermore, a number of initiatives organised in Portugal by members of the APO and/or under its patronage featured leading figures from the field of global otoneurology. Michael Stupp, Dario Yakobino, Sergio Carmona, Francisco Zuma e Maia, Herminio Perrez Garrigues, Sotto Varela and Alain Semont were among the distinguished figures who joined us at these scientific meetings. .
Throughout this unusual economic year, we have also been able to continue to count on various forms of support from the industry, for which we are very grateful, as we recognise the extra effort this has required. We hope that your participation in APO events in 2014 proved very fruitful, and we look forward to improving and stepping up our involvement in 2015.
One more word of appreciation for Abbott Laboratories, which over the years has remained a loyal Major Sponsor of the events organised by the Portuguese Association of Otoneurology. Thank you very much for that.
The year 2015 thus emerges, quite rightly, as a year of great responsibility for maintaining and, if possible, improving on all the positive developments that have taken place in the field of otoneurology in Brazil.
The organisers of the APO’s upcoming events have already been appointed. The first event of 2015 will be the APO Winter Meeting, which will focus on the theme of Otoneurology and Ageing and will take place in Angra do Heroísmo, a World Heritage city.
As part of the ongoing exchange between ENT specialists and neurologists, this event will be attended by colleagues from both specialities, with around 20 presentations planned, followed by a discussion on the chosen topic; the customary ‘Rapport’ will subsequently be drawn up and distributed at the APO Annual Meeting.
This will be followed in March by the Iberian Otoneurology Meeting in Lisbon and, in June 2015, by the APO Annual Meeting.
As always, we are counting on all APO members to make 2015 an even more interesting and engaging year.
Let’s get to work!
APO wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and a wonderful 2015.
